260px, layout drawing of Shingū Castle A. Honmaru B. Demaru C. Kanenomaru D. Matsunomaru E. Ninomaru F. Mizunote ① Castle tower ② Cable car trace is a

Japanese castle are fortresses constructed primarily of wood and stone. They evolved from the wooden stockades of earlier centuries, and came into their best-known form in the 16th century. Castles in Japan were built to guard important or strategic sites, such ...

located in the city of Shingū, southern

Wakayama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Wakayama Prefecture has a population of 944,320 () and has a geographic area of . Wakayama Prefecture borders Osaka Prefecture to the north, and Mie Prefecture and Nara Prefecture ...

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 ...

. At the end of the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

, Shingū Castle was home to a cadet branch of the

Mizuno clan The was a Japanese kin group which claimed descent from Minamoto no Mitsumasa, son of Minamoto no Tsunemoto of the Seiwa Genji clan. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2 ...

, hereditary ''

karō were top-ranking samurai officials and advisors in service to the ''daimyōs'' of feudal Japan. Overview In the Edo period, the policy of ''sankin-kōtai'' (alternate attendance) required each ''daimyō'' to place a ''karō'' in Edo and anoth ...

'' of

Kishū Domain , or , was a province of Japan in the part of Honshū that is today Wakayama Prefecture, as well as the southern part of Mie Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kii''" in . Kii bordered Ise, Izumi, Kawachi, Shima, and Yamato Prov ...

. Its ruins, along with the clan cemetery for the Mizuno clan, were designated a National Historic Site in 2003. The castle is also called the or the .

History

Shingū Castle is located a hill by the mouth of

Kumano River The is a river in the Kii Peninsula of central Japan, located in Nara, Wakayama and Mie Prefectures. It is long and has a watershed of . The river rises from Mount Ōmine in the Yoshino-Kumano National Park in Tenkawa, Nara and follows a genera ...

in the southeastern extremity of Wakayama. From 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 ...

, Shingū was a port city from which timber floated down the Kumano River was taken to Osaka and other locations for sale, and was gateway to the

Kumano Sanzan A is a type of Shinto shrine which enshrines the three Kumano mountains: Hongū, Shingū, and Nachi [].Encyclopedia of ShintoKumano Shinkō accessed on October 6, 2008 There are more than 3,000 Kumano shrines in Japan, and each has received its k ...

shrines, an important pilgrimage destination. The local Shingū clan claimed descent from

Minamoto no Yukiie was the brother of Minamoto no Yoshitomo, and one of the commanders of the Minamoto forces in the Genpei War at the end of the Heian period of Japanese history. In 1181, he was defeated at the Battle of Sunomatagawa by Taira no Shigehira. After ...

and were also a naval power who assisted

Minamoto no Yoritomo was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate of Japan, ruling from 1192 until 1199.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Minamoto no Yoriie" in . He was the husband of Hōjō Masako who acted as regent (''shikken'') after his ...

in the

Genpei War The was a national civil war between the Taira and Minamoto clans during the late Heian period of Japan. It resulted in the downfall of the Taira and the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate under Minamoto no Yoritomo, who appointed himself ...

. However, in 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 ...

, the Shingū were replaced by the Horinouchi clan, who under Horinouchi Ujiyoshi, submitted to

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period. He is regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. Nobunaga was head of the very powerful Oda clan, and launched a war against other ''daimyō'' to unify ...

, and later

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 ...

. After Hideyoshi's death, Ujiyoshi supported the Western Army at the

Battle of Sekigahara The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 (Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu prefecture, Japan, at the end of ...

and was thus dispossessed by

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fellow ...

. Under the Tokugawa Shogunate,

Kii Province , or , was a province of Japan in the part of Honshū that is today Wakayama Prefecture, as well as the southern part of Mie Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kii''" in . Kii bordered Ise, Izumi, Kawachi, Shima, and Yamato Pro ...

was awarded to Asano Yukinaga. As the Kumano region was so distance from the capital of the province at

Wakayama Wakayama may refer to: *Wakayama Prefecture, a prefecture of Japan *Wakayama (city) Wakayama City Hall is the capital city of Wakayama Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 351,391 in 157066 househol ...

, Asano started to build a branch castle on Tankakuyama in Shingū in 1601. The castle was to be abandoned in 1616 when the shogunate issued a proclamation that there could be only one castle per domain; however, the Asano received a special exemption from the ruling. In 1619, the Asano were transferred to

Hiroshima Domain The was a domain of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1601 to 1871. The Hiroshima Domain was based at Hiroshima Castle in Aki Province, in the modern city of Hiroshima, located in the Chūgoku region of the island of H ...

, and Kii Province was given to

Tokugawa Yorinobu was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the early Edo period. Born under the name Nagatomimaru (長福丸), he was the 10th son of Tokugawa Ieyasu, by his concubine Kageyama-dono. On December 8, 1603, Yorinobu received the fief of Mito, then rated at 20 ...

, the 10th son of Tokugawa Ieyasu, and one of the ''

gosanke The , also called simply , or even , were the most noble three branches of the Tokugawa clan of Japan: Owari, Kii, and Mito, all of which were descended from clan founder Tokugawa Ieyasu's three youngest sons, Yoshinao, Yorinobu, and Yorifusa ...

'', or three cadet branches of the

Tokugawa clan The is a Japanese dynasty that was formerly a powerful ''daimyō'' family. They nominally descended from Emperor Seiwa (850–880) and were a branch of the Minamoto clan (Seiwa Genji) through the Matsudaira clan. The early history of this clan r ...

who could provide a candidate for

Shogun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

should the main line of descent fail.

had five hereditary ''

'', each of whom had a ''

kokudaka refers to a system for determining land value for taxation purposes under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo-period Japan, and expressing this value in terms of ''koku'' of rice. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Koku"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 54 ...

'' equal to, or greater than, many of the smaller ''daimyō''. A cadet branch of the Mizuno clan was the hereditary ''karō'', based in Shingū, with a ''kokudaka'' of 35,000 ''

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 ...

'' and Mizuno Shigeyoshi completed construction of the castle in 1633. The castle extends on the hill in a rough "U"-shape. The central area is 50 by 30 meters on the eastern half of the hill, and contained the ''

tenshu is an architectural typology found in Japanese castle complexes. They are easily identifiable as the highest tower within the castle. Common translations of ''tenshu'' include keep, main keep, or ''donjon''. ''Tenshu'' are characterized as ty ...

'' and a ''yagura'' watchtower. The entrance was protected by a winding path with many dead ends through several enclosures with stone walls and dry moats. The Kumano River forms a natural moat protecting the rear of the castle, whose fortifications extend to the water's edge and include a port on the river with warehouses. The Mizuno clan continued to rule from Shingū Castle to 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 ...

. In 1873, per orders of the

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji o ...

all remaining structures of the castle were demolished. All that remain today are remnants of stone walls over looking the river and ocean. In 1952, the site of the castle became privately-owned land, and a kindergarten and hotel were constructed on the site of the Ni-no-maru enclosure, with a cable car running up the slope to the ruins of the inner enclosure as a tourist attraction. This cable car ceased operation in 1980 and was demolished in the 1990s, and much of the site was re-acquired by the city government and has become "Tankaku-jo Park". There are ongoing discussions to reconstruct the ''tenshu''. The Mizuno clan cemetery is located approximately one kilometer to the south of the castle site, and is part of the National Historic Site designation. In 2017, the castle was listed as one of the

Continued Top 100 Japanese Castles The is a list of 100 Japanese castle, castles, intended as a sequel of 100 Fine Castles of Japan. The castles were chosen for their significance in culture, history, and in their regions by the in 2017. Hokkaidō region Tōhoku region Kant ...

. The castle is a 15-minute walk from

Shingū Station is an interchange passenger railway station located in the city of Shingū, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, jointly operated by JR West and JR Central. Overview Shingū Station is the main railway station in Shingū, and plays an important role ...

on the JR

Kisei Main Line The is a railway line that parallels the coastline of the Kii Peninsula in Japan between Mie Prefecture and Wakayama Prefecture. The name takes the ''kanji'' characters from the names of the old provinces of and . The line is operated by Ce ...

, whose tracks cut across the castle grounds in a tunnel.

Gallery

171008 Shingu Castle Shingu Wakayama pref Japan19n.jpg, Site of the Otemon Gate to the main enclosure 新宮城本丸石垣.JPG, Walls of the main enclosure 171008 Shingu Castle Shingu Wakayama pref Japan37n.jpg, Ruins of the Matsu-no-maru gate 100718 Shingu Castle Shingu Wakayama pref Japan01s.jpg, Shingū Castle ruins from the Kumano River

Literature

* * * * *

External links

Shingu City Tourist Association

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shingu Castle Castles in Wakayama Prefecture Historic Sites of Japan Ruined castles in Japan Shingū, Wakayama Kii Province

History

Gallery

See also

Literature

External links

Notes