was 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 Takayama,

Gifu Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,991,390 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture to the northwest, F ...

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 built on a mountain nearly in height and had many typical castle features, including a stone base, earthen walls and a surrounding moat.

History

During 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 ...

Hida Province was a province of Japan in the area that is today the northern portion of Gifu Prefecture in the Chūbu region of Japan. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Wakasa''" in . Hida bordered on Echizen, Mino, Shinano, Etchū, and Kaga Provin ...

was nominally under the control of the

Kyōgoku clan The were a Japanese ''daimyō'' clan which rose to prominence during the Sengoku period, Sengoku and Edo period, Edo periods. The clan descend from the Emperor Uda, Uda Minamoto clan, Genji through the Sasaki clan.Papinot, Jacques. (2003)''Nobi ...

, but in reality was divided between several small local

warlords A warlord is a person who exercises military, economic, and political control over a region in a country without a strong national government; largely because of coercive control over the armed forces. Warlords have existed throughout much of h ...

such as Anegakōji clan or Ema clan. Being surrounded by the powerful

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 ...

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 ...

Oda clan The is a Japanese samurai family who were daimyo and an important political force in the unification of Japan in the mid-16th century. Though they had the climax of their fame under Oda Nobunaga and fell from the spotlight soon after, several ...

s, these local lords frequently changed allegiance based on circumstance. Miki Yoritsuna (1540-1587) who ruled the southern half of Hida gradually expanded his domains with the support of

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 ...

. After Nobunaga's assassination in 1582, he decisively defeated an alliance of the remaining local lords united Hida province, with his base at Matsukura Castle. However, Yoritsuna supported

Sassa Narimasa , also known as Kura-no-suke (内蔵助), was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku through Azuchi–Momoyama period.">DF 7 of 80">"Asa ..., where he was in the rear guard. In 1575, Narimasa fought at the Battle of Nagashino">DF 7 of 80/nowiki>">D ...

in neighboring Etchū Province against

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 ...

and was destroyed by the forces of

Kanamori Nagachika was a Japanese samurai who lived from the Sengoku period into the early Edo period. He was the first ruler of the Kanamori clan and served as a retainer of the Oda, Toyotomi, and Tokugawa clans. Later in his life, he also became a ''daimyō' ...

(who was then the ruler of Echizen Ōno Castle). Hideyoshi awarded Hida Province to Kanamori, who started to build a new castle on Shiroyama mountain in Takayama in 1588.Takayama City Sightseeing Information
. City of Takayama. Accessed June 12, 2008. By 1600, the main and secondary castle keeps were completed, but it would be another three years before the third keep was completed. In addition to the construction of the castle, Nagachika also developed a

castle town A castle town is a settlement built adjacent to or surrounding a castle. Castle towns were common in Medieval Europe. Some examples include small towns like Alnwick and Arundel, which are still dominated by their castles. In Western Europe, ...

at the same time. The Kanamori clan ruled as ''

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 Takayama Domain for about 100 years. When the Kanamori clan was transferred to

Dewa Province was a province of Japan comprising modern-day Yamagata Prefecture and Akita Prefecture, except for the city of Kazuno and the town of Kosaka. Dewa bordered on Mutsu and Echigō Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . History Early peri ...

in 1692, the castle came under the control of the

Maeda clan was a Japanese samurai clan who occupied most of the Hokuriku region of central Honshū from the end of the Sengoku period through the Meiji restoration of 1868. The Maeda claimed descent from the Sugawara clan of Sugawara no Kiyotomo and Sugaw ...

. Three years later Hida Province became ''

tenryō 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 ...

'' territory, under the direct control of 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 ...

, and the buildings of the castle were pulled down, with a ''

jin'ya A was a type of administrative headquarters in the Tokugawa Shogunate during the Edo period of Japanese history. ''Jin'ya'' served as the seat of the administration for a small domain, a province, or additional parcels of land. ''Jin'ya'' hou ...

'' built at the foot of Shiroyama. Currently the shape of areas remain with only a little part of stone walls, but several buildings were transferred to neighbor temples at the time of abolition and still remain. The local magistrate's office is preserved in almost the original style, called the Takayama Jin'ya. The remains of the castle are in the present-day

Shiroyama Park is a public park located in Takayama, Gifu, Takayama, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. In 1873, the park was established in the mountainous area around the ruins of Takayama Castle.

Castle rulers

;

Kanamori clan was a Japanese samurai who lived from the Sengoku period into the early Edo period. He was the first ruler of the Kanamori clan and served as a retainer of the Oda, Toyotomi, and Tokugawa clans. Later in his life, he also became a ''daimyō' ...

# Kanamori Arishige (金森可重) # Kanamori Shigeyori (金森重頼) # Kanamori Yorinao (金森頼直) # Kanamori Yorinari (金森頼業) # Kanamori Yoritoki (金森頼時)

References

{{Authority control Castles in Gifu Prefecture Ruined castles in Japan Takayama, Gifu Hida Province

History

Castle rulers

Further reading

References