Kiyosu Castle
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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
Kiyosu is a city in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 69,687 in 29,477 households, and a population density of 4,017 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Kiyosu is located in far western Aichi Pr ...
, eastern
Aichi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefecture ...
,
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 n ...
. It is noted for its association with the rise to power of 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 ...
warlord,
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 ...
. The
kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequ ...
in the name of the castle was written as 清須城. The current partial reconstruction dates to 1989 and was built as a centennial celebration for the modern-day city of Kiyosu.


History

Kiyosu Castle was built between 1394 and 1427, to guard the strategic junction of the Ise Kaidō with the Nakasendō highways connecting
Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the c ...
with
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 ...
. The area was dominated by
Shiba Yoshishige Shiba may refer to: *Shiba Inu, a breed of dog *Shiba clan,_Japanese_clan_originating_in_the_Sengoku_period *Shiba_Inu_(cryptocurrency).html" ;"title="DF 58 of 80/nowiki>">DF 58 of 80">("Shi ..., Japanese clan originating in the Sengoku period *Shi ...
, then head of the
Shiba clan was a Japanese clan. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003).html" ;"title="DF 58 of 80">("Shiba," ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 54 DF_58_of_80">("Shi_...
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and the ''shugo'' (governor) of Owari Province">Owari, Echizen Province">Echizen and Tōtōmi Provinces. Upon completion of construction, Oda Toshisada was installed in the castle as the ''shugodai'' (vice-governor of the province). It is thought to have been intended as a defensive stronghold meant to protect Orizu Castle, the seat of Owari's provincial government until its destruction during battle in 1478 during a civil war between various factions of the
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, sever ...
. After the loss of Orizu Castle, Oda Nobuhide shifted his seat to Kiyosu, bringing prosperity to the city, from which he ruled the four counties of lower Owari Province. After Nobuhide died in 1551, his son
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 ...
was initially unable to assume control of the entire clan. Nobuhide’s younger brother Oda Nobutomo, with the support of Shiba Yoshimune, took over Kiyosu Castle in 1553. After Yoshimune revealed to Nobunaga an assassination plot in 1554, Nobutomo had Yoshimune put to death. The next year, Nobunaga retook Kiyosu Castle and captured his uncle, forcing him to commit suicide not long after. Nobunaga also had his younger brother, Oda Nobuyuki assassinated at Kiyosu Castle’s donjon in 1557. Nobunaga sealed his alliance with
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 ...
during treaty negotiations held at Kiyosu Castle in 1562. Nobunaga relocated from Kiyosu to Iwakura Castle in 1563. After Nobunaga's death,
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 ...
assembled his retainers at Kiyosu Castle and proclaimed his regency over Nobunaga’s infant grandson, Oda Hidenobu. Kiyosu Castle itself came under the control of Nobunaga’s second son,
Oda Nobukatsu was a Japanese samurai of the Azuchi–Momoyama period. He was the second son of Oda Nobunaga. He survived the decline of the Oda clan from political prominence, becoming a ''daimyō'' in the early Edo period. Though often described as an inco ...
, who began large scale renovations in 1586, which included a double ring of moats, as well as a large and a small
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 ...
It was remodeled by expanding the castle grounds to roughly 1.6 km east to west and 2.8 km north to south. However, Nobukatsu fell afoul of Toyotomi Hideyoshi when he refused orders to change his domains, and was replaced at Kiyosu by Fukushima Masanori in 1595. After 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 ...
in 1600, Fukushima Masanori was relocated to Hiroshima Castle, and Kiyosu was reassigned to Tokugawa Ieyasu’s 4th son, Matsudaira Tadayoshi. However, he was in poor health from wounds suffered at Sekigahara, and died in 1607. The castle then passed to Tokugawa Yoshinao. In 1609, by order of Tokugawa Ieyasu, Yoshinao was ordered to relocate the seat of his government to
Nagoya Castle is a Japanese castle located in Nagoya, Japan. Nagoya Castle was constructed by the Owari Domain in 1612 during the Edo period on the site of an earlier castle of the Oda clan in the Sengoku period. Nagoya Castle was the heart of one of the ...
. The move occurred from 1609-1613, during which time most of the buildings of Kiyosu Castle were dismantled and relocated to Nagoya. Parts of Nagoya Castle were reconstructed with the use of building materials taken from Kiyosu Castle. The northwest turret of Nagoya Castle's Ofukemaru fortress was called the "Kiyosu Yagura," as it was constructed using parts taken from the Kiyosu Castle donjon. The original ''kinshachi'' (金鯱) from Kiyosu Castle are now preserved in the Buddhist temple of Sōfuku-ji in Gifu City in neighboring
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, ...
, and a former gate of the castle is preserved at the temple of Ryōfuku-ji in Owari-Asahi and some of the decorated sliding doors from the castle are at the temple of Soken-ji in
Naka-ku, Nagoya is one of the 16 wards of the city of Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. As of 1 October 2019, the ward has an estimated population of 90,918 and a population density of 9,693 persons per km2. The total area is 9.38 km2. Geography Naka Wa ...
.


Reconstruction

By the
Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...
, there was very little remaining of the ruins of Kiyosu Castle aside from earthenworks in the former main bailey. The tracks for the
Tōkaidō Main Line The is a major Japanese railway line of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) network, connecting and stations. It is long, not counting its many freight feeder lines around the major cities. The high-speed Tōkaidō Shinkansen largely parallel ...
railway were laid directly across the site. During the
Shōwa period Shōwa may refer to: * Hirohito (1901–1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa * Showa Corporation, a Japanese suspension and shock manufacturer, affiliated with the Honda keiretsu Japanese eras * Jōwa (Heian ...
, a municipal park was created around the site of the castle, and a bronze statue of Oda Nobunaga was erected in 1936, portraying a young Nobunaga on the eve of the decisive Battle of Okehazama. In 1989, to mark the centennial of the foundation of the modern town of Kiyosu, a
reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low ultimate tensile strength, tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion ...
replica donjon was built. The reconstruction is not accurate, as no plans or illustrations of the original Kiyosu Castle have survived, and the reconstruction is based on the donjon of
Inuyama Castle is a ''yamajiro''-style Japanese castle located in the city of Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. The castle overlooks the Kiso River, which serves as the border between Aichi and Gifu Prefectures. The '' tenshu'' of Inuyama Castle, one of only 1 ...
as being representative of the period. Inside the structure is a local history museum, with displays of arms and armor. Next to the castle is the Kiyosu Armor Factory, which is run by local volunteers. It teaches visitors by armor artisans, and manufactures medieval protective gear.


Gallery

File:Oda Nobunaga statue in Kiyosu park.jpg, Bronze statue of Oda Nobunaga (Kiyosu City, Aichi Prefecture, Kiyosu Park) File:Kiyosu castle isigaki.JPG, Kiyosu Castle stone wall File:Kiyosu-jo&ote-bashi.jpg, Kiyosu Castle File:Kiyosujo1.JPG, Sakura on the
Gojō River The flows through Gifu and Aichi prefectures in Japan. It empties into the Shin River, which is part of the Shōnai River system. Geography The '' sakura'' on the banks of the river in Ōguchi, Konan, and Iwakura are Japan's Top 100 ''sa ...
and the riverside. File:Kiyosujo2.JPG, Kiyosu Castle and Sakura


References


Literature

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External links


Kiyosu official websiteKiyosu Castle Jcastle Profile
{{Coord, 35.217, N, 136.844, E, display=title, source:cswiki Castles in Aichi Prefecture Museums in Aichi Prefecture History museums in Japan