was a castle structure in Tamanawa ward of

Kamakura is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Kamakura has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 persons per km² over the total area of . Kamakura was designated as a city on 3 November 1939. Kamak ...

Kanagawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kana ...

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 adopted brother of

Hōjō Ujiyasu was a ''daimyō'' (warlord) and third head of the Odawara Hōjō clan. Known as the "Lion of Sagami", he was revered as a fearsome warrior and a cunning man. He is famous for his strategies of breaking the siege from Takeda Shingen and Uesugi K ...

Hōjō Tsunashige or Hōjō Tsunanari also known as "Jio Hachiman", was an officer of great skill under the Hōjō clan. The brother in law of Hōjō Ujiyasu. Around the Kantō region, he fought in many battles supporting the Hōjō, also contributing to the e ...

was command of the castle.

History

Hōjō Sōun , also known as was Japanese ''daimyo'' and the first head of the Later Hōjō clan, one of the major powers in Japan's Sengoku period. Although he only belonged to a side branch of the main, more prestigious Ise family, he fought his way up, gain ...

who had been fighting with the

Miura clan Miura may refer to: Places *Miura, Kanagawa *Miurakaigan Station *Miura District, Kanagawa *Miura Peninsula * Ganadería Miura, the home of the Miura fighting bull line People * Miura (surname) *Miura clan, Japanese descended clan of the Taira ...

built the castle to avoid being attacked from behind by the Ōgigayatsu Uesugi clan's relief army. Even after the fall of the Miura clan, Tamanawa castle continued to be an important castle of the Hōjō clan as a base of defense against the

Satomi clan The was a Japanese samurai clan of the Sengoku period (1467–1573) and early Edo period (1603–1868). The clan ruled Awa Province as a ''Sengoku daimyō'' and was a major military power in the Kantō region during the wars of the Nanboku-c ...

. In 1561, Tamanawa castle was surrounded by

Uesugi Kenshin , later known as was a Japanese ''daimyō''. He was born in Nagao clan, and after adoption into the Uesugi clan, ruled Echigo Province in the Sengoku period of Japan. He was one of the most powerful ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku period. Known as ...

's army but he left without even attacking the castle. During the siege of Odawara in 1590, Hōjō Ujikatsu entrenched himself in the castle but was besieged by a big army of the

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 ...

. In the end Ujikatsu surrendered without resistance. After the Siege of Odawara,

placed his reliable retainer

Honda Masanobu was a commander and ''daimyō'' in the service of Tokugawa Ieyasu in Japan during the Azuchi-Momoyama and Edo periods. In 1563, when an uprising against Ieyasu occurred in Mikawa Province, Masanobu took the side of the peasants against Ieyasu ...

. Later, the castle was given to Nagasawa

Matsudaira clan The was a Japanese samurai clan that descended from the Minamoto clan. It originated in and took its name from Matsudaira village, in Mikawa Province (modern-day Aichi Prefecture). During the Sengoku period, the chieftain of the main line of th ...

, a member of the Tokugawa clan. Tamanawa castle was abandoned in 1703 when Nagasawa Matsudaira clan transferred to the Otaki Domain. There are little remains of the castle on the present day site, just some moats and earthworks. Excavated artefacts from the castle are exhibited at Ryūhō-ji Temple near the castle.

Access

The castle remains are located on the outskirts of Kamakura, close to

Ōfuna Station Ōfuna Station( ja, 大船駅, ) is a railway station in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan, operated by the East Japan Railway Company (JR East). Lines Ōfuna Station is served by the Tokaido Main Line, Shōnan-Shinjuku Line, Negishi Line ( Keihin-T� ...

(About 15 minutes walk from

Gallery

File:諏訪壇下土塁？？2 2014.jpg, Eathen wall of Tamanawa Castle(under the Suwadan compound) File:Moat of Tamanawa Castle.jpg, Horikiri style moat of Tamanawa Castle File:Horikiri of Tamanawa Castle.jpg, Horikiri style Moat of Tamanawa Castle File:408 太鼓郭.jpg, Taikokuruwa compound File:Moat_and_earthen_wall_of_Tamanawa_Castle_(Kuichigai_compound).jpg, Moat and earthen wall of Kuichigai compound

References

{{reflist Castles in Kanagawa Prefecture Former castles in Japan Ruined castles in Japan Go-Hōjō clan 1510s establishments in Japan