250px, Washi Jinja on the site of Washi Castle was a Japanese castle located in what is now the city of Oyama,

Tochigi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Tochigi Prefecture has a population of 1,943,886 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,408 Square kilometre, km2 (2,474 Square mile, sq mi). Tochigi ...

, in the

Kantō region The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba and Kanagawa. Slight ...

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 ...

. In 1991 the ruins were proclaimed a National Historic Site by the Japanese government collectively with Nakakuki Castle and Washi Castle as the "Oyama clan castle ruins". The castle is also known as

Oyama Castle (Gion Castle)

Oyama Castle was built by Oyama Masamitsu in 1148. The Oyama clan claimed descent from

Fujiwara Hidesato , was a ''kuge'' (court noble) of tenth century Heian period Japan. He is famous for his military exploits and courage and is regarded as the common ancestor of numerous clans, including the Ōshū branch of the Fujiwara clan. Hidesato served u ...

and had territories in

Musashi Province was a province of Japan, which today comprises Tokyo Metropolis, most of Saitama Prefecture and part of Kanagawa Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province encompassed Kawasaki and Yokohama. Musashi bordered on Kai, Kōzuke, Sagami, S ...

. During the

Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...

, they held Yūki Castle in Shimōsa Province and were named ''

shugo , commonly translated as “(military) governor,” “protector,” or “constable,” was a title given to certain officials in feudal Japan. They were each appointed by the ''shōgun'' to oversee one or more of the provinces of Japan. The pos ...

'' of Shimotsuke Province under the

Kamakura shogunate The was the feudal military government of Japan during the Kamakura period from 1185 to 1333. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Kamakura-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 459. The Kamakura shogunate was established by Minamoto no Y ...

. However, after the fall of the Kamakura shogunate, their position as ''shugo'' was challenged by the

Utsunomiya clan is the prefectural capital city of Tochigi Prefecture in the northern Kantō region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 519,223, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Utsunomiya is famous for its ''gyoza'' ...

, the Kō clan and the ''Kantō kanrei''

Uesugi clan The is a Japanese samurai clan which was at its peak one of the most powerful during the Muromachi and Sengoku periods (14th to 17th centuries). Appert, Georges. (1888) ''Ancien Japon,'' p. 79./ref> At its height, the clan had three main branch ...

. Initially, the Oyama clan used Washi Castle as their seat, but relocated to the more defensible Oyama Castle during the time of Oyama Yoshimasa. It was the site of numerous conflicts from 1380 to 1383. The Oyama clan was eventually defeated and annihilated by the

Kamakura-fu The or was a regional government installed in Kamakura, in today's Kanagawa Prefecture, by the Ashikaga shogunate which lasted from 1349 to 1455. It was headed by a dynasty of Ashikaga rulers called ''Kamakura Kubō'' (or ''Kantō Kubō''). The ...

, but the clan name was permitted to continue as a cadet branch of the

Yūki clan is a Japanese samurai kin group. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Yūki," ''Nobiliare du Japon'', pp. 71–72 retrieved 2013-5-6. History The Yūki claim descent fr ...

into the

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

. Oyama Hidetsuna was forced to pledge fealty to the Late Hōjō clan in 1576, and the castle was expanded by

Hōjō Ujiteru (1540? – August 10, 1590) was a Japanese samurai, who was the son of Hōjō Ujiyasu and lord of Hachiōji Castle in what is now Tokyo. In 1568, Ujiteru defended Takiyama castle from Takeda Shingen. Later in 1569, Ujiteru and his brother ...

and became a base of operations for the Hōjō conquest of the northern Kantō region. However, when the Hōjō were destroyed by

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 ...

in 1590, the Oyama were dispossessed and the castle given to Honda Masazumi as the center of a 30,000 ''

koku The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. 1 koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about . It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1000 gō. One ''gō'' is the volume of the "rice cup", the plastic measuring cup that is supplied ...

'' fief. When Honda Masazumi was transferred by the

Tokugawa Shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

Utsunomiya Castle is a Japanese castle located in Utsunomiya, central Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. At the end of the Edo period, Utsunomiya Castle was home to a branch of the Toda clan, ''daimyō'' of Utsunomiya Domain. History Early history Utsunomiya Castle was ...

in 1619, Oyama Castle was abandoned. During the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

, the politician and cabinet minister

Hoshi Tōru was a Japanese politician and cabinet minister in Meiji period Japan. Early life Hoshi was born in Edo in what is now part of Tsukiji, Tokyo; little is known about his biological father other than that he was a plasterer. His mother remarried ...

built a villa on the ruins of the castle, but this villa no longer exists. The site of the castle is now called Shiroyama Park. The castle was a flatland-stye castle with the Shikawa River forming a huge natural moat to one side. It consisted of three large enclosures in a row along the river, each separated by a deep moat and earthworks over an area of about 400 meters east–west and about 700 meters north–south. Immediately to the south was a square, double-moated enclosure, which was the location of the Oyama residence. Most of the outer areas of the castle have been lost due to modern urban encroachment.

Washi Castle

() was the earlier seat of the Oyama clan. It is uncertain when it was constructed, but it is likely from the time that the Oyama clan was designated as ''shugo'' of Shimotsuke Province in the

. It became one of the five strongholds of the Oyama clan during the

Muromachi period The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bakufu'' or ''Ashikaga bakufu''), which was officially established in 1338 by t ...

. It was abandoned around 1601 when the Oyama clan was transferred to Echizen Province by the Tokugawa shogunate. At present, the inner portion of site is partly occupied by the Washi Shrine, and the outer portion has been lost to residential lands. In 1991, it became a National Historic Site together with Oyama Castle.

Nakakuki Caste

was located ( ) at the southern end of a tongue-shaped plateau just upstream of the confluence between the Egawa and Nishinirei rivers. The inner bailey measures 120 by 100 meters, and is surrounded by earthworks, with a redoubt located in the northwest at the tip of the plateau. To the east was a secondary

enclosure Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or " common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...

, which is now occupied by a Buddhist temple. Nakakuki Castle was built by Oyama Masamitsu in 1155 and was another of the five strongholds of the Oyama clan in the Muromachi period. It was abandoned around 1601 when the Oyama clan was transferred to Echizen Province by the Tokugawa shogunate. At present, the tracks of the Mito Line railway cut through the site of the castle, with a railroad crossing located inside the castle grounds itself, making the site difficult to understand. In 1991, it received protection as a National Historic Site together with the sites of Oyama Castle and Washi Castle; however, the main enclosure was not included in the designation. This was revised in the year 2001 to include the undesignated portion of the site.

Literature

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References

External links