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is a ''hirayama''-style
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 Maruoka neighbourhood of the city of
Sakai is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It has been one of the largest and most important seaports of Japan since the medieval era. Sakai is known for its keyhole-shaped burial mounds, or kofun, which date from the fifth century and inclu ...
,
Fukui Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Fukui Prefecture has a population of 778,943 (1 June 2017) and has a geographic area of 4,190 km2 (1,617 sq mi). Fukui Prefecture borders Ishikawa Prefecture to the north, ...
, in the
Hokuriku region The was located in the northwestern part of Honshu, the main island of Japan. It lay along the Sea of Japan within the Chūbu region, which it is currently a part of. It is almost equivalent to Koshi Province and Hokurikudō area in pre-mod ...
of Japan. It also called due to the legend that whenever an enemy approaches the castle, a thick mist appears and hides it. Built at the end 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 ...
, the castle was occupied by a succession of ''
daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominall ...
'' of
Maruoka Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003). It was based at Maruoka Castle in eastern Echizen Province ...
under 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 character ...
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 site is now a public park noted for its
sakura A cherry blossom, also known as Japanese cherry or sakura, is a flower of many trees of genus ''Prunus'' or ''Prunus'' subg. ''Cerasus''. They are common species in East Asia, including China, Korea and especially in Japan. They generally ...
. The castle’s relatively small ''
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 ...
'' (castle keep) claims to be the oldest in the country, a claim which is challenged by both
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 ...
and
Matsumoto Castle , originally known as Fukashi Castle, is one of Japan's premier historic castles, along with Himeji and Kumamoto. The building is also known as the due to its black exterior. It was the seat of Matsumoto Domain under the Edo Period Tokugawa ...
.


Background

Maruoka Castle is located on top of a small hill in the plains north of the city of Fukui. The area around the foot of the hill was levelled, and protected by ramparts and a pentagonal-shaped moat. The castle is located on the Hokurikudō highway connecting
Kaga Province was a province of Japan in the area that is today the south and western portion of Ishikawa Prefecture in the Hokuriku region of Japan. Kaga bordered on Echizen, Etchū, Hida, and Noto Provinces. It was part of Hokurikudō Circuit. Its abb ...
with
Echizen Province was a province of Japan in the area that is today the northern portion of Fukui Prefecture in the Hokuriku region of Japan. Echizen bordered on Kaga, Wakasa, Hida, and Ōmi Provinces. It was part of Hokurikudō Circuit. Its abbreviated for ...
, at the juncture of the Mino Kaidō highway connecting inland
Mino Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today southern Gifu Prefecture. Mino was bordered by Ōmi to the west, Echizen and Hida to the north, and Shinano to the east, and Ise, Mikawa, and Owari to the south. Its abbreviat ...
with the
Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, i ...
.


History


Construction

Maruoka Castle is considered to have been constructed in 1576 by Shibata Katsutoyo, who was the nephew and adopted son of
Shibata Katsuie or was a Japanese samurai and military commander during the Sengoku period. He served Oda Nobunaga as one of his trusted generals, was severely wounded in the 1571 first siege of Nagashima, but then fought in the 1575 Battle of Nagashino an ...
, one 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 ...
's leading generals. According to the legend of "O-shizu, Hitobashira" the castle was constructed with a human pillar. During construction the stone base of the ''tenshu'' kept collapsing no matter how many times it was piled up. There was one
vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerai ...
who suggested that they should make someone a human sacrifice (
hitobashira , also known as daa saang zong/da sheng zhuang (; Cantonese/Mandarin romanisation) in China, myosade (မြို့စတေး) in Burma, and tumbal proyek in Indonesia, is a cultural practice of human sacrifice in East and Southeast Asia of prem ...
) to appease the gods. O-shizu, a one-eyed woman who had two children and lived a poor life, was selected as the Hitobashira. She resolved to become one on the condition that one of her children was taken in by Katsutoyo and made a samurai. Standing in position the base stones were positioned around her, until they eventually crushed her to death. Her sacrifice allowed the construction to be successfully completed. Katsutoyo was however unable to fulfil his promise to O-shizu before he moved to another province. Resentful that her son had not been made a samurai her spirit according to legend would make the moat overflow with spring rain when the season of cutting algae came in April every year. People called it, "the rain caused by the tears of O-shizu's sorrow" and erected a small tomb to soothe her spirit. There was a poem handed down, "The rain which falls when the season of cutting algae comes Is the rain reminiscent of the tears of the poor O-shizu's sorrow". Although built in the Momoyama period (1575-1600) the design is more indicative of earlier fortresses of the Warring States period (1477-1575) . As it was being sited on top of a low hill it was decided to mount the ''tenshu'' on a high stone base in order to gain additional height. However at the time successful techniques of constructing such a steep faced base were still in their infancy, especially when using rough uncut stones (known as ''nozurazumi'') in a steeply inclined base as adopted at Maruoka. This random-style piling of stones is suggested as the source of the instability in the walls during the construction period.


Tokugawa shogunate

After Shibata Katsutoyo died of illness during the
Battle of Shizugatake The was a battle of the Sengoku period of Japan fought between Toyotomi Hideyoshi (then Hashiba Hideyoshi) and Shibata Katsuie in Shizugatake, Ōmi Province in May 1583. Katsuie supported Oda Nobutaka's claim as successor of Oda Nobunaga in ...
in 1583, the castle was given to the
Aoyama clan The was a Japanese kin group. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003).html" ;"title="DF 6 of 80">"Aoyama," ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 2 DF_6_of_80">"A_...
._However,_the_Aoyama_sided_with_the_Western_Army_under_Ishida_Mitsunari.html" ;"title="DF 6 of 80/nowiki>">DF 6 of 80">"A ...
. However, the Aoyama sided with the Western Army under Ishida Mitsunari">DF 6 of 80/nowiki>">DF 6 of 80">"A ...
. However, the Aoyama sided with the Western Army under Ishida Mitsunari during the Battle of Sekigahara and were thus dispossessed by the victorious Tokugawa Ieyasu. Ieyasu awarded Echizen Province to his son, Yūki Hideyasu, who in turn created a 26,000 ''koku'' holding centered at Maruoka for his retainer, Imamura Moritsugu. In 1613, due to an ''
O-Ie Sōdō O-Ie Sōdō (, "house strife") were noble family disputes within the samurai and aristocratic classes of Japan, particularly during the early Edo period (17th century). The most famous is the '' Date Sōdō'', which broke out among the Date family ...
'' within Fukui Domain, 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 ...
raised Maruoka Domain to 40,000 ''koku'' and assigned it to
Honda Narishige (1571 – July 25, 1647) was a Japanese samurai of the late Sengoku period through early Edo period, who served the Tokugawa clan; he later became a ''daimyō''. Narishige was born at Hamamatsu Castle, the son of Tokugawa retainer Honda Shig ...
, the son of
Honda Shigetsugu (1529 – August 9, 1596), also known as , was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku period through Azuchi-Momoyama Period, who served the Tokugawa clan. He served as one of Ieyasu's "three magistrates". Biography He was known as Hachizo, Sakujur ...
, one of Ieyasu's leading generals. Due to Honda Narishige's efforts at the
Siege 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 sie ...
in 1624, the ''
kokudaka refers to a system for determining land value for taxation purposes under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo-period Japan, and expressing this value in terms of ''koku'' of rice. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Koku"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 54 ...
'' of the domain was further raised to 46,300 ''koku''. His son and grandson completed the castle and the surrounding ''
jōkamachi The term refers to a type of urban structures in Japan in which the city surrounds a feudal lord's castle. These cities did not necessarily form around castles after the Edo period; some are known as Jin'yamachi, cities that have evolved around J ...
''. However, his great-grandson, Honda Shigemasu was an alcoholic and incompetent, and was dispossessed by the shogunate in 1695. The Honda were replaced by Arima Kiyosumi, a descendant of the ''
Kirishitan The Japanese term , from Portuguese ''cristão'' (cf. Kristang), meaning "Christian", referred to Catholic Christians in Japanese and is used in Japanese texts as a historiographic term for Catholics in Japan in the 16th and 17th centuries. ...
'' ''
daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominall ...
''
Arima Harunobu was a Japanese samurai lord who was the daimyō, daimyo of Shimabara Domain and the head of the Hizen-Arima clan''.'' In his early years, he was a retainer of Ryūzōji clan. Biography Harunobu was born in Hinoe Castle, the Hizen-Arima clan, Ar ...
. The
Arima clan The is a Japanese samurai family. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003).html" ;"title="DF 6-7 of 80">"Arima," ''Nobiliare du Japon'', pp. 2-3 DF_...
_continued_to_rule_Maruoka_for_eighth_generations_until_the_abolition_of_the_han_system.html" ;"title="DF 6-7 of 80/nowiki>">DF ...
continued to rule Maruoka for eighth generations until the abolition of the han system">DF 6-7 of 80/nowiki>">DF ...
continued to rule Maruoka for eighth generations until the abolition of the han system in July 1871 during the Meiji Restoration.


Meiji restoration

After the Meiji restoration, almost all Japanese castles around the country were demolished. In the case of Maruoka while many of the castle buildings were demolished and various gates, stone walls, and trees were sold off, the ''tenshu'' and castle grounds was purchased in 1901 by the town of Maruoka and became a park. The pentagonal moat surrounding the castle was gradually filled in and partly built between the late
Taishō era The was a period in the history of Japan dating from 30 July 1912 to 25 December 1926, coinciding with the reign of Emperor Taishō. The new emperor was a sickly man, which prompted the shift in political power from the old oligarchic group of ...
to the early
Shōwa era The was the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito) from December 25, 1926, until his death on January 7, 1989. It was preceded by the Taishō era. The pre-1945 and post-war Shōwa periods are almos ...
. The ''tenshu'' was registered as a national treasure on 30 January 1934. The ''tenshu'' collapsed due to the destruction of its stone base during the
1948 Fukui earthquake The occurred in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. The magnitude 6.8 quake struck at 5:13:31 p.m.( JDT) on June 28, 1948. The quake's hypocenter was approximately 10 km north-northeast of Fukui, in the present-day neighborhood of Maruoka, Sakai City. ...
. In 1955 the base was rebuilt using 70% of the original pillars and about 60% of the original beams by installing a reinforced concrete frame and piling the original stones around it before re-erecting the ''tenshu'' on top. At that time, the structure of the windows on the top floor was changed from sliding doors to push-up windows. The castle was designated an Important Cultural Property in 1950. A number of the castle gates also survive in private hands, including one at the temple of Kōzen-ji in
Komatsu, Ishikawa is a city located in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 108,509 in 42,664 households, and a population density of 290 persons per km². The total area of the city was . Geography Komatsu is located in southwes ...
and one at the temple of Renshō-ji in the city of
Awara, Fukui is a city located in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 27,107 in 10,140 households and the population density of 232 persons per km². The total area of the city was . It is one of the few Hiragana cities in Jap ...
.


Investigations into its construction date

The Maruoka Castle Research and Research Committee lead by (Junichi Yoshida from the Fukui University of Technology) was commissioned by the Board of Education of Sakai City to survey the castle. By dating the timber used in the construction of the ''tenshu'' from its rings, radiocarbon concentration, and oxygen isotope ratio, they reported after four years of investigations in March 2019 that most of the through pillars, which play a structurally important role, were cut down after 1626. In Japanese. Confusing matters was the observation that the architectural style of Maruoka's ''tenshu'' was considered outdated by the 1620s. This would indicate that if it had been built in 1576 by Shibata Katsutoyo as generally assumed, it would have been heavily reconstructed in the latter half of the 1620s (mostly likely in 1628) by the Honda clan following
Honda Narishige (1571 – July 25, 1647) was a Japanese samurai of the late Sengoku period through early Edo period, who served the Tokugawa clan; he later became a ''daimyō''. Narishige was born at Hamamatsu Castle, the son of Tokugawa retainer Honda Shig ...
being assigned ownership of the castle in 1613. In Japanese. In October 2019 the northeast exterior wall of the tenshu was damaged by an typhoon and were subsequently repaired by the Tanaka Shrine Co. In Japanese.


Current status

Maruoka Castle is one of just twelve castles in Japan which has managed to keep its original ''tenshu''. The former castle grounds are now incorporated in the Kasumigajo Park, which contain some remnants of the ramparts and moats as well as a small museum that displays some arms, armour, and household items related to its former lords. The area is famed for its approximately 400
cherry blossom A cherry blossom, also known as Japanese cherry or sakura, is a flower of many trees of Prunus, genus ''Prunus'' or Prunus subg. Cerasus, ''Prunus'' subg. ''Cerasus''. They are common species in East Asia, including China, Korea and especia ...
trees. An annual cherry blossom festival is held during the first three weeks of April during which the trees are lit up in the evenings by over 300 paper lanterns.


Description

Sitting atop a 6.2-metre (20 ft 4 in) high stone platform set among Japanese black pine and cherry trees, access to the ''tenshu'' is via a long staircase leading directly into its black wooden interior. The ''tenshu'' has three floors, with uppermost serving as a watchtower. The ''tenshu'' has a number of unique design features. While the roof originally had wood shingles In Japanese. at some stage these were replaced with roof tiles made from a local stone called ''shakudani''. These stone tiles mean the roof is unusually heavy with a weight of 60 tons which is more than double the weight of a normal tile-roofed or wooden shingle roof. In Japanese. Other sources quote a weight of 120 tons. The reason for using stone tiles believed to have been because they provided superior thermal insulation during the winter. The roof also features stone '' shachihako'' (fish/tiger) ornaments. The right-hand side of the ''tenshu'' has a series of protruding ''ishiotoshimado'' (stone-dropping windows) that allowed defenders to shoot at enemies via timber slats and also via a trap door to drop stones or pour oil or boiling water on attackers underneath. The ''tenshu'' also has a hidden floor not apparent from the exterior, but in general both the size of the ''tenshu'' and its interior are very similar to that of contemporary
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 ...
.


References


Further reading

* * * *Ikeda, Koichi: ''Maruoka-jo'' in: Miura, Masayuki (Hrsg.): Shiro to jinya. Tokoku-hen. Gakken, 2006. * * * *


External links

*
Japan Castle
This guide includes information on how to access the castle

The city of Sakai’s official website for the castle.
平成29年度丸岡城調査研究事業成果報告 (2017 Maruoka Castle Research Project Results Report)

丸岡城学術調査成果の概要 (Summary of Maruoka Castle Academic Survey Results)
{{Authority control 100 Fine Castles of Japan Castles in Fukui Prefecture Museums in Fukui Prefecture History museums in Japan Parks and gardens in Fukui Prefecture Sakai, Fukui Echizen Province Shibata clan Honda clan Arima clan