, also known as Ukishiro Castle, is a ''hirashiro'' (

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

on a plain) located in Mihara,

Hiroshima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Hiroshima Prefecture has a population of 2,811,410 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 8,479 km² (3,274 sq mi). Hiroshima Prefecture borders Okayama ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

History

Mihara Castle was constructed in 1582 by

Kobayakawa Takakage was a samurai and daimyō (feudal lord) during the Sengoku period and Azuchi–Momoyama period. He was the third son of Mōri Motonari who was adopted by the Kobayakawa clan and became its 14th clan head. He merged the two branches of the Koba ...

, who built this castle to protect the

Mōri clan The Mōri clan (毛利氏 ''Mōri-shi'') was a Japanese samurai clan descended from Ōe no Hiromoto. Ōe no Hiromoto was descended from the Fujiwara clan. The family's most illustrious member, Mōri Motonari, greatly expanded the clan's power ...

's coastline. Takakage constructed the castle on the coast, and connected it to two small islands, thus giving the castle its nickname- Ukishiro (floating castle). It had three baileys, thirty-two

yagura Yagura may refer to: * Yagura castle * Yagura opening * Yagura (tombs) * Yagura (tower) is the Japanese word for "tower", "turret", "keep", or "scaffold". The word is most often seen in reference to structures in Japanese castle compounds bu ...

, and fourteen gates. The ''tenshu'' (keep) was never constructed, though its foundation was completed, and is believed to be the largest ever constructed. After

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...

conquered

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...

, Takakage was rewarded for being a loyal follower by being given land in Chikuzen, Chikugo, and Bizen. As a result, he moved to

Najima Castle is a hilltop castle, located in Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Today, only its ruins still stand. History Najima Castle was located on a peninsula projecting into Hakata Bay on the north of the estuary of the Tatara River. The castle f ...

. However, he returned to reside at Mihara Castle following his 1595 retirement, and died there in 1597. During the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

, Mihara Castle avoided the destruction that most Japanese castles suffered during this era, due primarily to the fact that it became an Imperial Japanese Naval base. However, many of the stone walls were torn down and all buildings demolished when Mihara Train Station was built in the castle in 1894 following the decommissioning of the naval base. It was further demolished in 1975, when a

shinkansen The , colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. Initially, it was built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, to aid economic growth and development. Beyond l ...

station and track split what remained in half.

Today

The ruins are preserved in a park, though the shinkansen inhibits traveling around the castle.The Cultural and Historic CROSSROADS of Japan / Map Search
The base of the ''tenshu'' still stands and it is possible to stand on it and get a good view of Mihara City.

Gallery

File:本丸中門.jpg, Mark in gate of center of castle File:和久原川石垣.JPG,

Stone wall Stone walls are a kind of masonry construction that has been used for thousands of years. The first stone walls were constructed by farmers and primitive people by piling loose field stones into a dry stone wall. Later, mortar and plaster ...

that exists in circumference of nearby river File:三原城石垣.JPG, Stone wall that digs into to

Mihara Station is a railway station in Mihara, Hiroshima, Japan, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West). Lines Mihara Station is served by the following JR West lines. * Sanyo Shinkansen * Sanyo Main Line * Kure Line The is a railway line oper ...

File:東大手門跡.jpg, Mark in gate in the east File:西大手門跡.jpg, Mark in gate in the west File:船入槽入口跡.jpg, Mark in Port in castle

Literature

References

Literature

*　 {{coord, 34, 24, 4.62, N, 133, 4, 57.57, E, source:jawiki_region:JP_scale:6000, display=title Castles in Hiroshima Prefecture Historic Sites of Japan Mōri clan

History

Today

Gallery

See also

Literature

References

Literature