was an

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 ...

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

Tokushima is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Tokushima Prefecture has a population of 728,633 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,146 km2 (1,601 sq mi). Tokushima Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the north, E ...

Tokushima Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Tokushima Prefecture has a population of 728,633 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,146 km2 (1,601 sq mi). Tokushima Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the north, E ...

, Japan. Its ruins have been protected as a National Historic Site since 1957. Its Omotegoten Gardens are designated a national Place of Scenic Beauty.

History

Tokushima Castle is located on the 60-meter high Shiroyama hill, in the center of Tokushima city at the mouth of the

Yoshino River The Yoshino River (吉野川 ''Yoshino-gawa'') is a river on the island of Shikoku, Japan. It is long and has a watershed of . It is the second longest river in Shikoku (slightly shorter than the Shimanto), and is the only river whose watershe ...

. Its location makes it the main gateway to Shikoku from the

Kinai region is a Japanese term denoting an ancient division of the country. ''Kinai'' is a name for the ancient provinces around the capital Nara and Heian-kyō. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kinai''" in . The five provinces were called ''go-kinai' ...

. During 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 area was dominated by the local

Miyoshi clan is a Japanese family descended from Emperor Seiwa (850–880) and the Minamoto clan (Seiwa-Genji). They were a cadet branch of the Ogasawara clan and the Takeda clan. At the beginning of the 14th century AD, Ogasawara Nagafusa settled in Shiko ...

, who also controlled

Kawachi Province was a province of Japan in the eastern part of modern Osaka Prefecture. It originally held the southwestern area that was split off into Izumi Province. It was also known as . Geography The area was radically different in the past, with Kawachi ...

across the

Kii Channel The , also called the Kii Strait, is a strait separating the Japanese island of Shikoku from the Kii Peninsula on the main island of Honshū. This strait connects the Inland Sea with the Pacific Ocean. The name of the strait derives from Kii Pr ...

. In 1582, the warlord

Chōsokabe Motochika was a prominent ''daimyō'' in Japanese Sengoku-period. He was the 21st chief of the Chōsokabe clan of Tosa Province (present-day Kōchi Prefecture), the ruler of Shikoku region. Early life and rise He was the son and heir of Chōsokabe Kuni ...

Tosa Province was a province of Japan in the area of southern Shikoku. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tosa''" in . Tosa bordered on Awa to the northeast, and Iyo to the northwest. Its abbreviated form name was . In terms of the Gokishichidō syste ...

attempted to united the island of Shikoku under his rule, and defeated the Miyoshi. However, he was in turn defeated by the forces 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 ...

only three years later in Hideyoshi's conquest of Shikoku. As Awa Province was directly opposite Hideyoshi's stronghold of

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

, he placed

Hachisuka Iemasa was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the early Edo period. Iemasa, the son of Hachisuka Masakatsu or ''Koroku'', was the founder of the Tokushima Domain. He was one of some daimyo who have bad terms with Ishida Mitsunari. His father was a retainer ...

, the son of one of his most trusted generals,

Hachisuka Masakatsu , also known Hachisuka Koroku (蜂須賀小六), was a ''daimyō'', retainer and adviser of Toyotomi Hideyoshi during the Azuchi–Momoyama period of Japanese history. He was the son of Hachisuka Masatoshi. The Hachisuka clan were the ''kokuj ...

as governor. Masakatsu had originally been from

Owari Province was a province of Japan in the area that today forms the western half of Aichi Prefecture, including the modern city of Nagoya. The province was created in 646. Owari bordered on Mikawa, Mino, and Ise Provinces. Owari and Mino provinces were ...

and had been one of Hideyoshi's closest confidants since an early age, participating at Hideyoshi's side through most of his campaigns, including the capture of Sanuki and Awa provinces. However, due to his advanced age, he turned the clan chieftainship to his son Iemasa. Hachisuka Iemasa completed Tokushima Castle after about a year of construction. The site was a long and narrow ridge extending from east-to-west, with the central area over 150 meters long. As was typical for 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 ...

, the castle originally consisted of a series of

enclosures Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...

guarded by winding stone walls along the contours of the original terrain, and protected by ''masugata''-style complex gates. Later, a three-story ''

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 ...

'' was added at the east edge of the hill. He also laid out the design of the

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 foot of the castle hill. Hachisuka Iemasa attempted to keep some distance from the Toyotomi government, as he did not get along with

Ishida Mitsunari Ishida Mitsunari (, 1559 – November 6, 1600) was a Japanese samurai and military commander of the late Sengoku period of Japan. He is probably best remembered as the commander of the Western army in the Battle of Sekigahara following the A ...

. He also married his son

Hachisuka Yoshishige (February 20, 1586 – March 29, 1620) was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Edo period, who ruled the Tokushima Domain. His court title was '' Awa no kami''. He married Manhime (1592–1666), daughter of Ogasawara Hidemasa Yoshishige fought du ...

to an adopted daughter of

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 ...

. For these reasons, at the time of 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 ...

, Ishida Mitsunari forced Hachisuka Iemasa to take the tonsure and forcibly exiled him to

Mount Koya Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

and the castle was occupied by troops from the

Mōri clan The Mōri clan (毛利氏 ''Mōri-shi'') was a Japanese samurai clan descended from Ōe no Hiromoto. Ōe no Hiromoto was descended from the Fujiwara clan. The family's most illustrious member, Mōri Motonari, greatly expanded the clan's power ...

. Following the establishment 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 ...

Tokugawa Ieyasu restored the Hachisuka clan to their domains Hachisuka Yoshishige is therefore regarded as the first ''

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 Tokushima Domain. Hachisuka Yoshishige later received awards seven times from

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 ...

Tokugawa Hidetada was the second ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa dynasty, who ruled from 1605 until his abdication in 1623. He was the third son of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate. Early life (1579–1593) Tokugawa Hidetada was bo ...

for his actions at the 1614-1615

Battle of Osaka The was a series of battles undertaken by the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate against the Toyotomi clan, and ending in that clan's destruction. Divided into two stages (winter campaign and summer campaign), and lasting from 1614 to 1615, the siege ...

and his territories were expanded to cover all of Awa Province, as well as 70,000 ''koku'' in Awaji Province. In 1617, he was granted the remainder of Awaji Island, bringing his total ''kokudaka'' to 257,000 ''koku''. The castle remained the stronghold of the clan 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 ...

. 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 ...

ordered the destruction of most of the castle structures in 1873, and by 1875 only one gate survived. Portions of the outer sections of the castle were sold to the public, or were used construct public facilities, such as schools and a prison. To commemorate the victory of Japan in the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

in 1905 the remaining castle grounds were opened to the public as a park. The remaining one original gate of the old castle was destroyed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

on July 4, 1945. It was restored in 1989. Tokushima Castle was listed as one of

Japan's Top 100 Castles The castles in were chosen based on their significance in culture, history, and in their regions by the in 2006. In 2017, Japanese Castle Association created an additional finest 100 castles list as Continued Top 100 Japanese Castles. Hokkaidō ...

by the Japan Castle Foundation in 2006.Japan Castle Foundation
/ref> The castle is a15-minute was from

Tokushima Station is a junction passenger railway station located in the city of Tokushima in Tokushima Prefecture, Japan, operated by the Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku). Lines Tokushima Station is the terminus of both the Kōtoku Line (station number " ...

Gallery

Tokushima Castle air.jpg, Aerial photograph taken in 1975 Tokushima Castle lordly Front Palace Garden01s3200.jpg, Omotegoten Gardens Washi-no-mon.jpg, Reconstructed castle gate Tokushima castle 25.jpg, Bakumatsu period Tokushima Castle Tokushima castle museum02s3872.jpg, Tokushima Castle Museum

References

Literature

* *

External links

* {{Authority control Buildings and structures in Tokushima Prefecture Tourist attractions in Tokushima Prefecture Tokushima (city) Castles in Tokushima Prefecture Historic Sites of Japan Places of Scenic Beauty Former castles in Japan Ruined castles in Japan Awa Province (Tokushima)

History

Gallery

See also

References

Literature

External links