, formerly known as Kaizu Castle (海津城, ''Kaizu-jō''), 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 a ...

located in former Matsushiro town, now part of

Nagano City is the capital and largest city of Nagano Prefecture, located in the Nagano Basin (Zenkoji Daira) in the central Chūbu region of Japan. Nagano is categorized as a core city of Japan. Nagano City is the highest prefectural capital in Japan, wit ...

. The site is a registered National Historic Site of Japan.

Layout

Matsushiro Castle is located in the flatlands of northern Shinano, in-between the main stream of the

Chikuma River The , known as the in its upper reaches, is the longest and widest river in Japan and the third largest by basin area (behind the Tone River and Ishikari River). It is located in northeastern Honshu, rising in the Japanese Alps and flowing g ...

and a former bed of the river, which serves as a broad outer moat on the north side of the castle. Due to its location, the castle (and surrounding

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 subjected to occasional flooding. The design of the castle is concentric, with the Central Bailey (''Hon-Maru'') protected by walls, and containing the ''

tenshu is an architectural typology found in Japanese castle, 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 cha ...

'' in its northwest corner, which was later replaced by a '' yagura''. The Central Bailey was surrounded by a moat, which was in turn surrounded completely by the Second Bailey (''Ni-no-Maru''), which had earthen ramparts except for areas around its gates, which were protected by stonework. The Second Bailey had a wide dry moat on its south and east, and the Third Bailey (''San-no-Maru''). The palace structures, or residence and official offices of the ''daimyō'', were located adjacent to the main fortifications in the ''Hana-no-Maru'' enclosure.

History

The first castle on this site was built in 1560 by Yamamoto Kansuke, under the direction of

Takeda Shingen was daimyō, daimyo of Kai Province during the Sengoku period of Japan. Known as "the Tiger of Kai", he was one of the most powerful daimyo of the late Sengoku period, and credited with exceptional military prestige. Shingen was based in a p ...

and was called Kōsaka Danjō (

Kōsaka Masanobu also known as was a Japanese samurai warrior of the Sengoku period. He was known as one of the "Twenty-Four Generals of Takeda Shingen". He is often credited as the original author of ''Kōyō Gunkan'', which records the history of the Takeda ...

) a

Takeda clan The was a Japanese samurai clan active from the late Heian period until the late 16th century. The clan was historically based in Kai Province in present-day Yamanashi Prefecture. The clan reached its greatest influence under the rule of Taked ...

retainer, was its first commander.

used the castle for the ongoing conflict with

Uesugi Kenshin , later known as , was a Japanese ''daimyō'' (magnate). He was born in Nagao clan, and after adoption into the Uesugi clan, ruled Echigo Province in the Sengoku period of Japan. He was one of the most powerful ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku period ...

for control of the northern part of

Shinano Province or is an old province of Japan that is now Nagano Prefecture. Shinano bordered Echigo, Etchū, Hida, Kai, Kōzuke, Mikawa, Mino, Musashi, Suruga, and Tōtōmi Provinces. The ancient capital was located near modern-day Matsumoto, whi ...

. The site is also near the location of the

Battle of Kawanakajima The were a series of battles fought in the Sengoku period of Japan between Takeda Shingen of Kai Province and Uesugi Kenshin of Echigo Province from 1553 to 1564. Shingen and Kenshin contested each other for control of the plain of Kawanakaj ...

, where the Takeda and Uesugi forces repeatedly clashed After the fall of the Takeda clan,

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. He was the and regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. He is sometimes referred as the "Demon Daimyō" and "Demo ...

eventually took control. However, when he was assassinated in the

Honnō-ji incident The was the assassination of Japanese daimyo Oda Nobunaga at Honnō-ji, a temple in Kyoto, on 21 June 1582 (2nd day of the sixth month, Tenshō 10). Nobunaga was on the verge of unifying the country, but died in the unexpected rebellion of ...

in 1582,

Uesugi Kagekatsu was a Japanese samurai ''daimyō'' during the Sengoku and Edo periods. He was the adopted son of Uesugi Kenshin and Uesugi Kagetora’s brother in law. Early life and rise Kagekatsu was the son of Nagao Masakage, the head of the Ueda Naga ...

recovered northern Shinano. During this time the castle was in dispute between Uesugi and the

Sanada clan The is a Japanese clan.Edmond Papinot, Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)("Sanada," ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 52 DF 56 of 80/nowiki> retrieved 2013-5-3. The Sana ...

. Under

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...

, the Uesugi were relocated to

Aizu is the westernmost of the three regions of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, the other two regions being Nakadōri in the central area of the prefecture and Hamadōri in the east. As of October 1, 2010, it had a population of 291,838. The princ ...

. Following Hideyoshi's death and the

Battle of Sekigahara The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was an important battle in Japan which occurred on October 21, 1600 (Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu Prefecture, ...

, the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

ordered

Sanada Nobuyuki was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku period. He was the son of ''daimyō'' Sanada Masayuki and the older brother of Sanada Yukimura. Early life He was the first son of Sanada Masayuki and his wife, Kansho-in. His younger brother was Sanada Yu ...

to relocate here in 1622 from his former domains at

Ueda Ueda may refer to: Places *Ueda, Nagano, a city in Japan * Ueda Castle in Japan * Ueda Domain of Japan * Ueda Glacier in Antarctica Other uses * Ueda (surname) *Siege of Ueda Sekigahara campaign Sieges of the Sengoku period Attacks on castles ...

as the ''daimyō'' of

Matsushiro Domain file:松代城(海津城) Matsushiro castle 2011.1.1 - panoramio (2).jpg, 300px, Matsushiro Castle file:Ryukoji05.JPG, Part of the Matsushiro domain's Edo estate, relocated to Kamakura and used as a hall at Ryuko-ji Temple was a Han (Japan), feud ...

. The castle's name was changed from Kaizu Castle to Matsushiro Castle by

Sanada Yukimichi Sanada is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Asami Sanada (born 1977), Japanese voice actress *, Japanese shogi player * Juzo Sanada (1923–1994), Japanese baseball player * Hiroki Sanada (born 1984), Japanese baseba ...

, the third generation of Sanada ''daimyō'' in 1711. The castle burned down in 1717, but was restored in 1718, partly through the donation of 10,000 ''

ryō The was a gold currency unit in the shakkanhō system in pre- Meiji Japan. It was eventually replaced with a system based on the '' yen''. Origins The ''ryō'' was originally a unit of weight from China, the ''tael.'' It came into use in Ja ...

'' for its reconstruction by the

. In 1742, the castle was severely damaged by a flood, and reconstruction took until 1758. The palace structures were relocated to the ''Hana-no-Maru'' enclosure in 1770 and were rebuilt in 1804; however, much of the castle was destroyed in 1847 by an earthquake. The palace burned down in 1853 again, but was soon rebuilt. A secondary palace outside the castle enclosure was completed in 1864. Following the establishment of 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 ...

and the

abolition of the han system The in the Empire of Japan and its replacement by a system of prefectures in 1871 was the culmination of the Meiji Restoration begun in 1868, the starting year of the Meiji period. Under the reform, all daimyos (, ''daimyō'', feudal lords) ...

, most of the remaining structures of the castle were dismantled in 1871, and what was left was burned down in an act of arson in 1873, leaving only the stone foundations.

Current site

On the current site, several of the gates were authentically reconstructed in 2003 using traditional construction methods, with designs based on documents and photographs of the originals. The ramparts and moats have been repaired. The castle is a registered National Historic Site. Near the castle are a number of Edo period former

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

residences, the former

Matsushiro Literary and Military School The was the Han school of Matsushiro Domain under the Edo period Tokugawa shogunate. It located in the Matsushiro neighborhood of the city of Nagano in the Chūbu region of Japan. Of the over 250 han schools which existed in Japan at the end of ...

and a museum dedicated to the

. Matsushiro Castle was listed as one of the

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

by the Japan Castle Foundation in 2006.

Access

The site can be most easily accessed by Alpico bus from in front of JR

Nagano Station is a railway station in the city of Nagano in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. The station is operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and the private railway operator Nagano Electric Railway (Nagaden). Lines Nagano Station is served by the ...

, Zenkoji Exit, bus stop #3. Get off at "Matsushiro-eki", a disused railway station, of the

Nagano Electric Railway The is a private railway based in Nagano, Nagano, Nagano, Japan. The company and its line are commonly referred to as . It originally operated three lines, but only the Nagano Line between Nagano — Suzaka — Shinshū-Nakano — ...

on the former Yashiro Line, and walk for 3 minutes.

Gallery

Literature

* * * * *Takada, Toru: Matsushiro-jo in: Miura, Masayuki (eds): Shiro to Jinya. Tokoku-hen. Gakken, 2006. , S. 128th *

External links

Matsushiro Castle

Japan Visitor Information

Notes

{{Authority control Castles in Nagano Prefecture Historic Sites of Japan 100 Fine Castles of Japan Sanada clan Nagano (city)