was a Japanese castle that formed the administrative center of Sōma Domain, a

feudal domain A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. The concept or ...

of the

Sōma clan The was a Japanese samurai clan who ruled the northern Hamadōri region of southern Mutsu Province in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan for over 700 years, from the Kamakura period through the Meiji Restoration of 1868. The Sōma claimed de ...

under 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 ...

, located in what is now the city of Sōma in northern

Fukushima Prefecture Fukushima Prefecture (; ja, 福島県, Fukushima-ken, ) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Fukushima Prefecture has a population of 1,810,286 () and has a geographic area of . Fukushima Prefecture borders Miya ...

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 ...

. The castle was also called "Nakamura Castle" or "Mutsu-Nakamura Castle". The castle's contemporary nickname was from a place name mentioned in the Chinese

Spring and Autumn Annals The ''Spring and Autumn Annals'' () is an ancient Chinese chronicle that has been one of the core Chinese classics since ancient times. The ''Annals'' is the official chronicle of the State of Lu, and covers a 241-year period from 722 to 481 ...

History

Sōma Morotsune (1139-1205), the progenitor of the Sōma clan, was a retainer of Minamoto-no-Yoritomo and was awarded with the district of Namekata in southern

Mutsu Province was an old province of Japan in the area of Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate and Aomori Prefectures and the municipalities of Kazuno and Kosaka in Akita Prefecture. Mutsu Province is also known as or . The term is often used to refer to the comb ...

for his services against the

Northern Fujiwara The Northern Fujiwara (奥州藤原氏 ''Ōshū Fujiwara-shi'') were a Japanese noble family that ruled the Tōhoku region (the northeast of Honshū) of Japan during the 12th century as their own realm.

Hiraizumi is a town located in Nishiiwai District, Iwate Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 7,408 and a population density of in 2,616 households. The total area of the town was . It is noted for the Historic Monuments and Site ...

. His sixth generation descendant, Sōma Shigetane (相馬重胤), built a fortified house at Odaka (小高) in 1326, which was later expanded into a castle. In 1611, Sōma Toshitane (相馬利胤, 1581-1625) the ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and n ...

'' of Sōma Domain, decided to abandon Odaka and build a new castle nearby in Nakamura, where an ancient castle built by Sakanoue no Tamuramaro had once stood. His descendants remained at the castle until the end of the Edo period.

Layout

The Inner bailey (本丸) of the castle was built on a hill that rises above the local plain between the Koizumi and Udagawa rivers. In the southwest corner of the Inner bailey was a three-story

donjon A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in c ...

(天守, marked in red on the map), which was lost in 1670 by a lightning strike. It was never rebuilt. The inner bailey was surrounded by the Second Bailey (二ノ丸), which was divided into northern, eastern, southern and western sections. The Third Bailey formed a ring around the Second Bailey and was also divided into four sections. In the southeast was a separate area once containing the residence of the ''

'' (marked "N" on the map), which is now occupied by the Nakamura Jinja, a

Shinto shrine A is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more ''kami'', the deities of the Shinto religion. Overview Structurally, a Shinto shrine typically comprises several buildings. The '' honden''Also called (本殿, meani ...

dedicated to the Sōma clan ancestors. This was protected by an outer enclosure (marked "E" on the map) called the Enzō-kuruwa (円蔵曲輪). The defences of the castle were the strongest to the north, where the moats could be cut to flood a large area, turning it into an impassable swamp. This was because the Sōma clan viewed the main threat to the castle as being from the Date clan to the north. However, Sōma Nakamura Castle never saw battle, and was surrendered to the forces of the

Satchō Alliance The , or was a powerful military alliance between the feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū formed in 1866 to combine their efforts to restore Imperial rule and overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. History The name ''Satchō'' () is an ...

during the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a clique seeking to seize political power in the name of the Imperi ...

with no resistance. After 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 ...

, the new

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 ...

ordered the destruction of all former feudal fortifications, and in compliance with this directive, all structures of Sōma Nakamura Castle were pulled down in 1871, leaving only the inner Ōte-ichimon main gate (marked "H" on the map). The site is now a public park, and nothing remains of the former castle aside from a monument and part of the moats to the north and east.

Literature

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External links

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Soma-Nakamura Castle at J-Castle profile
Castles in Fukushima Prefecture Sōma, Fukushima Sōma clan Former castles in Japan Ruined castles in Japan