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 Suwa, central Nagano Prefecture, Japan. 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 characte ...

, Takashima Castle was home to the Suwa clan, ''

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

'' of Takashima Domain. The castle is also known as or

Situation

Takashima Castle is originally built on a peninsula extending into

Lake Suwa is a lake in the Kiso Mountains, in the central region of Nagano Prefecture, Japan. Geography The lake is the source of the Tenryū River. It ranks 24th in lake water surface area in Japan. The cities of Suwa and Okaya and the town of Shi ...

, with the lake itself forming part of its moats. This meant that only the side facing the shore had to have strong ramparts. The Main Bailey (''Honmaru'') was connected to the Second Bailey (''Ni-no-maru'') and Third Bailey (''San-no-Maru'') by bridges, with the Main Bastion (''Koromo-no-nami kuruwa'' (衣之波曲輪 )) containing the Main Gate (''Ōtemon'') facing the shore. During the

, increasing sedimentation of Lake Suwa left the castle surrounded by land, and the site is now located the middle of the modern city of Suwa. Today, the area is a public park. Only the north and east side of the moat has been preserved. In 1970, some of the castle structures were reconstructed, but are not historically accurate. The castle was listed as one of the

Continued Top 100 Japanese Castles The is a list of 100 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 ...

in 2017.

History

The area around Lake Suwa had been under the control of the Suwa clan since at least the early

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese ...

; however, the Suwa were conquered in 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 ...

Takeda Shingen , of Kai Province, was a pre-eminent ''daimyō'' in feudal Japan. Known as the "Tiger of Kai", he was one of the most powerful daimyō with exceptional military prestige in the late stage of the Sengoku period. Shingen was a warlord of great ...

, who annexed the area to his territories. Takashima Castle was ruled by a succession of Takeda generals (beginning with

Itagaki Nobukata was a retainer of the Takeda family. He was known as one of the " Twenty-Four Generals of Takeda Shingen". His name is also seen with different ''kanji'' as 信形. Nobukata served under both Takeda Nobutora and Takeda Shingen and also was ta ...

) until the defeat and annihilation of the

Takeda clan The was a Japanese samurai clan active from the late Heian period until the late 16th century. The clan was historically based in Kai Province in present-day Yamanashi Prefecture. The clan reached its greatest influence under the rule of Taked ...

at the

Battle of Nagashino The took place in 1575 near Nagashino Castle on the plain of Shitaragahara in the Mikawa Province of Japan. Takeda Katsuyori attacked the castle when Okudaira Sadamasa rejoined the Tokugawa, and when his original plot with Oga Yashiro for t ...

in 1575. The area then came under the control of Oda Nobunaga, who assigned it to one of his generals,

Kawajiri Hidetaka was a Japanese samurai warrior during the Sengoku period , and was one of the vassals of Oda Nobunaga . He was the first samurai in the "Kuro-horo-shu" (bodyguard unit in black) elite troops selected from Nobunaga's aides, and later served ...

. After Nobunaga was assassinated in the Honnō-ji incident, the territory came under the control of

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 ...

, who assigned

Hineno Takayoshi was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku period, and first daimyō of Suwa Domain under the Tokugawa Shogunate. Hineno was originally in the service of Saitō Dōsan of Mino Province; however, after the fall of the Saito he changed his allegiance to ...

as ''

'' of

Suwa Domain Takashima Castle, administrative centre of Suwa Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. It was located in Shinano Province, Honshū. The domain was centered at Takashima Castle, located in what is now part ...

began a complete reconstruction of the castle, which was completed by his son, Hineno Yoshiakira. The Hineno were reassigned in 1601, and the domain was returned to the hands of the Suwa clan 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 fello ...

. The Suwa remained in control of the castle until 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 ...

. Following the establishment 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 ...

and the abolition of the han system, the remaining structures of the castle were dismantled in 1875, leaving only the stone foundations. A Shinto Shrine dedicated to the war dead was established within the grounds in 1900 and the area of the Second and Third Baileys was built over as a residential district. The present donjon, ''yagura'' and gates are all reconstructions, which were completed in 1970.

Literature

* *Takada, Tōru: Takashima-jo in: Miura, Masayuki (ed.): Shiro to Jinya. Tokoku-hen. Gakken, 2006. , S. 100th *Nishigaya, Yasuhiro (ed.): Takashima-jo. In: Nihon Meijo Zukan, Rikogaku-sha, 1993. . * * * *

References

External links

Japan Castle Profile - Takashima Castle
{{Authority control Castles in Nagano Prefecture Suwa, Nagano