is an early
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
Tamba-Sasayama
, formerly known as , is a city in the central eastern part of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 40,050 in 17523 households and a population density of 110 persons per km2. The total area of the city is
Geograph ...
,
Hyōgo,
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 ...
. It ruins have been protected as a
National Historic Site since 1956.
History
Sasayama Castle is located at the center of Tamba-Sasayama city. The Sasayama area is a strategic junction of highways from
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 ci ...
to both the
San'in region
The is an area in the southwest of Honshū, the main island of Japan. It consists of the northern part of the Chūgoku region, facing the Sea of Japan.
Etymology
The name San'in in the Japanese language is formed from two kanji characters. The ...
, and the
San'yo regions of western Japan. Recognizing the importance of this location, 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 ...
,
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 ...
ordered the construction of Sasayama Castle to isolate
Toyotomi Hideyori
was the son and designated successor of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the general who first united all of Japan. His mother, Yodo-dono, was the niece of Oda Nobunaga.
Early life
Born in 1593, he was Hideyoshi's second son. The birth of Hideyori cre ...
at
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 ...
from the powerful feudal lords of western Japan, many of whom still had pro-Toyotomi loyalties. As the location was only three kilometers from a large mountain castle,
Yakami Castle
was a Sengoku period Japanese castle located in what is now part of the city of Tamba-Sasayama Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Its ruins have been protected as a National Historic Site since 2005.The castle was one of the largest in Tanba Province, ...
ruled by
Matsudaira Yasushige
was a Japanese samurai of the Azuchi-Momoyama through early Edo periods. He was the family head of the Matsui-Matsudaira, a family which received the Matsudaira name as an honorific following his father's service to Tokugawa Ieyasu. Yasushige e ...
(who may have been Tokugawa Ieyasu's illegitimate son), Yakami Castle was abolished and Matsudaira Yasushige relocated to Sasayama, where he became ''
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
Sasayama Domain
250px, Aoyama Tadayuki, final ''daimyō'' of Sasayama
was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Tanba Province in what is now the west-central portion of modern-day Hyōgo Prefecture. It was centered in ...
. The design of the castle was done by
Tōdō Takatora
was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of Tōdō clan from the Azuchi–Momoyama to Edo periods. He rose from relatively humble origins as an ashigaru (a light foot soldier) to become a ''daimyō''.
Biography
During his lifetime he changed his feudal m ...
, construction overseen by
Ikeda Terumasa
was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the early Edo period. His court title was '' Musashi no Kami''. Terumasa was also known by the nickname ''saigoku no shōgun'', or, "The ''Shōgun'' of Western Japan". Terumasa fought in many of the battles of the ...
and the materials and labor provided by 20 ''daimyō'', including the Fukushima,
Kato clan Kato or Katō may refer to:
Places
* Kato, Guyana, a village in Guyana
*Katō, Hyōgo, a city in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan
* Katō District, Hokkaido, a district located in Tokachi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan
* Katowice, a city in Southern Polan ...
,
Hachisuka clan
The are descendants of Emperor Seiwa (850-880) of Japan and are a branch of the Ashikaga clan through the Shiba clan (Seiwa Genji).
History
Ashikaga Ieuji (13th century), son of Ashikaga Yasuuji, was the first to adopt the name Shiba. The Shiba ...
and
Asano clan
The was a Japanese samurai clan that descended from the Minamoto clan, and the Emperor Seiwa (850-881), the 56th Emperor of Japan. The Main Lineage (''sōke'', 宗家) were Lords (daimyō) of the Hiroshima Domain in Aki Province and another f ...
. By this style of construction, the fledgling Tokugawa Shogunate bled the powerful western ''daimyō'' of wealth and tested their loyalty to the new regime. To hasten completion of the castle, neither ''
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 ...
'' nor corner
''yagura'' watchtowers were constructed, and the castle consisted a central area surrounded by stone walls and a moat. It was intended more as an administrative center rather than an actual castle for use in war. The second bailey contained the large ''daimyō'' residence, and the residences for samurai retainers and 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 laid out to the southwest and southeast of the castle. Sasayama Castle was held by 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">"Ao_...
_for_123_years_during_the_Edo_period.html" ;"title="DF 6 of 80/nowiki>">DF 6 of 80">"Ao ...
for 123 years during the Edo period">DF 6 of 80/nowiki>">DF 6 of 80">"Ao ...