is 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 ...

in the city of

Marugame is a city located in Kagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 108,541 in 46101 households and a population density of 970 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Marugame is located in north-ce ...

Kagawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kagawa Prefecture has a population of 949,358 (as of 2020) and is the smallest prefecture by geographic area at . Kagawa Prefecture borders Ehime Prefecture to the southwest and Tok ...

, Japan. It is located in the center of Marugame city, in former

Sanuki Province was a province of Japan in the area of northeastern Shikoku. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Sanuki''" in . Sanuki bordered on Awa to the south, and Iyo to the west. Its abbreviated form name was . In terms of the Gokishichidō system, ...

on the island of

Shikoku is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan. It is long and between wide. It has a population of 3.8 million (, 3.1%). It is south of Honshu and northeast of Kyushu. Shikoku's ancient names include ''Iyo-no-futana-shima'' (), '' ...

. During the

, it was the center of

Marugame Domain 270px, Kyōgoku Akiyuki 270px, Marugame Castle was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in what is now Kagawa Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. It was centered around Marugame Castle, and was ruled throughout mu ...

, ruled by the ''tozama''

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 ...

under 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 ...

. The castle site has been protected as a National Historic Site since 1953. Marugame Castle is one of only a dozen Japanese castles to have an original wooden '

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 ...

'' built before 1860.

History

Marugame Castle is located on Kameyama hill at the center of the city of Marugame, in western

. 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 ...

, this area was ruled by the Kagawa clan, originally from

Sagami Province was a province of Japan located in what is today the central and western Kanagawa Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kanagawa''" at . Sagami Province bordered the provinces of Izu, Musashi, and Suruga. It had access to the Paci ...

, from their stronghold at

Amagiri Castle was a Muromachi period Japanese castle located on the border of what is now the cities of Zentsūji and Mitoyo and the town of Tadotsu, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan. Its ruins have been protected as a National Historic Site since 1990. Histor ...

in what is now the city of Zentsuji. The Kagawa clan were vassals of the

Hosokawa clan The is a Japanese Samurai kin group or clan. Ancestors # Emperor Jimmu # Emperor Suizei # Emperor Annei # Emperor Itoku # Emperor Kōshō # Emperor Kōan # Emperor Kōrei # Emperor Kōgen # Emperor Kaika # Emperor Sujin # Emperor Suinin # Emper ...

, but changed their fealty to the

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 ...

and then the Chosokabe clan due to the fluctuating balance of power in the region. However, the clan was dispossessed when the area was conquered by

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 ...

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 ...

. Hideyoshi awarded all of Sanuki Province to

Ikoma Chikamasa Ikoma Chikamasa (生駒親正, 1526 – March 25, 1603) was a Japanese ''daimyō'' during the Azuchi-Momoyama and Edo periods around the turn of the 17th century. His father was Ikoma Chikashige. Chikamasa was appointed one of the san-''chūrō ...

in 1587.. Chikamasa first made his stronghold at

Hiketa Castle was a Sengoku period Japanese castle located in what is now part of the city of Higashikagawa, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan. Its ruins have been protected by the central government as a National Historic Site since 2020. History Hiketa Castle is ...

, but it was inconveniently located at the eastern edge of Sanuki, and built Takamatsu Castle in a more central location to be his seat. For control of western Sanuki, he started construction of a castle at Kameyama hill and named it "Marugame Castle". He turned this castle over to his son,

Ikoma Kazumasa was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku period who lived into the early Edo period; he served the Oda clan, the Toyotomi, and then the Tokugawa. He was also the ''daimyō'' of the Takamatsu Domain. Kazumasa was the eldest son of Ikoma Chikamasa ...

. 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 ...

in 1600, Chikamasa continued to support

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 ...

and the Western Army loyal to the

Toyotomi clan The was a Japanese clan that ruled over the Japanese before the Edo period. Unity and conflict The most influential figure within the Toyotomi was Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of the three "unifiers of Japan". Oda Nobunaga was another primary un ...

; however, he sent his son Kazumasa to join

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 ...

's Eastern Army so that the clan would survive no matter what the outcome. After 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 ...

, the Ikoma clan were confirmed in their holdings in Sanuki Province. In 1615, the shogunate issued the ''Ikkoku Ichijōj'' law which allowed each domain only one castle. As the seat of the Ikoma clan was Takamatsu Castle, Marugame Castle had to be abolished. In 1640, the Ikoma clan was demoted to

Yashima Domain was a feudal domain in Edo period Japan, located in Dewa Province (modern-day Akita Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Yashima Jin'ya in the former town of Yashima, Akita, in what is now part of the city of Yurihonjō, Akita. History The ...

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 ...

by the shogunate in 1640 due to

attainder In English criminal law, attainder or attinctura was the metaphorical "stain" or "corruption of blood" which arose from being condemned for a serious capital crime (felony or treason). It entailed losing not only one's life, property and hereditar ...

following an uprising, and their holdings were divided. The area around Marugame was awarded to Yamazaki Ieharu, formerly of Tomioka Domain in Higo Province. Yamazaki Ieharu was noted at castle construction, having participated in the reconstructions of

Osaka Castle is a Japanese castle in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan. The castle is one of Japan's most famous landmarks and it played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century of the Azuchi-Momoyama period. Layout The main tower ...

and

Shimabara Castle , also known as and , is a Japanese castle located in Shimabara, Hizen Province (present day Nagasaki prefecture). This five-story white building stands in stark contrast to the black Kumamoto Castle in neighboring Kumamoto Prefecture. Descripti ...

amongst others, and decided to rebuild Marugame Castle with 20-meter stone walls and on a scale above its relatively small territory. The Yamazaki clan died out after three generations in 1658 and was replaced by a cadet branch of the

from

Tatsuno Domain 250px, Tatsuno Castle 250px, Wakisaka Yasuaya, final ''daimyō'' of Tatsuno Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in Harima Province in what is now the southwestern portion of modern-day Hyōgo Prefec ...

Harima Province or Banshū (播州) was a province of Japan in the part of Honshū that is the southwestern part of present-day Hyōgo Prefecture. Harima bordered on Tajima, Tanba, Settsu, Bizen, and Mimasaka Provinces. Its capital was Himeji. During the ...

. Under the Kyōgoku clan, the current three-story

was built in 1660 and the castle was considered completed in 1670. The Kyōgoku continued to rule from Marugame Castle to 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 characteriz ...

. The domain was an early and staunch supporter of the Imperial side in the

Bakumatsu period was the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate ended. Between 1853 and 1867, Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy known as and changed from a feudal Tokugawa shogunate to the modern empire of the Meiji govern ...

. After 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 ...

, in 1869, a fire swept through the castle and destroyed the ''

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 ...

'' palace and the Inui Yagura turret. In 1870, the outer moats were filled in and in 1872 the remaining castle structures were placed on public auction for demolition. However, the auction was cancelled by order of the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

, which laid claim to the castle site for use by the newly formed IJA 12th Infantry Regiment. In 1876 the remaining ''yagura'' turrets and most of the remaining walls were destroyed, but the tenshu and central portion of the castle were preserved. This area was opened to the public in 1919 as "Kameyama Park", and in 1933, the Enjukan, a villa owned by the Kyōgoku clan in 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, ...

was relocated to its current site within the San-no-maru Bailey. The moats were reclaimed in 1948. The Marugame City Museum, which exhibits historical materials related to Marugame Castle and the Kyōgoku clan opened in 1972. Marugame 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 located a 15 minute walk from then

JR Shikoku The , commonly known as , is the smallest of the seven constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates of intercity and local rail services in the four prefectures on the island of Shikoku in Japan. The company has it ...

Yosan Line The is the principal railway line on the island of Shikoku in Japan, connecting the major cities of Shikoku, and via the Honshi-Bisan Line, with Honshu. It is operated by the Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku), and is aligned approximately pa ...

Marugame Station is a passenger railway station located in the city of Marugame, Kagawa, Marugame, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is operated by JR Shikoku and has the station number "Y10". Lines The station is served by the JR Shikoku Yosan Line and is located ...

Cultural Properties

* The of Marugame Castle has been protected as an Important Cultural Property since 1943 * The is a ''masugata''-style gate built in 1670. It has been protected as an Important Cultural Property since 1957 * The is a ''masugata''-style gate built in 1670. It has been protected as an Important Cultural Property since 1957

Gallery

Keep of Marugame Castle.jpg, Marugame Castle tenshu Marugame Castle01s3872.jpg, View from Ote Ni-no-mon Marugame Castle02s3872.jpg, Ote Ni-no-mon Marugame Castle03s3200.jpg, Ote Ichi-no-mon (right)）Ote Ni-no-Mon (left) Goten-omote-mon_Gate_of_Marugame_Castle.jpg, Goten front gate and Tenshu Marugame Castle 002.JPG, Marugame Castle stone walls

References

Literature

* * * * *

External links