is a flatland-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 ...

in what is now the city of

Shiroishi, Miyagi is a city in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 33,330 and a population density of 120 persons per km2 in 14,242 households. The total area of the city is . Geography Shiroishi is in southern Miyagi Prefectu ...

. During 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 ...

, it was the castle of the

Katakura clan The is a Japanese family which claims its descent from Fujiwara no Toshihito by way of Katō Kagekado. The family entered Mutsu Province in the 14th century as subordinates of the Ōsaki clan. However, in 1532, they became retainers of the Da ...

, who were hereditary retainers of the

Date clan The is a Japanese samurai kin group. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Date", ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 5 retrieved 2013-5-5. History The Date family was founded ...

Sendai Domain The , also known as the , was a domain of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1600 to 1871. The Sendai Domain was based at Aoba Castle in Mutsu Province, in the modern city of Sendai, located in the Tōhoku region of the i ...

. During the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a clique seeking to seize political power in the name of the Imperi ...

, it was also temporarily the headquarters of the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei. The castle was also known by the name of

Early history

Shiroishi Castle was founded in the

Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle b ...

, by the Karita clan.

Sengoku Era

In 1591, during the late

Azuchi–Momoyama period The was the final phase of the in Japanese history from 1568 to 1600. After the outbreak of the Ōnin War in 1467, the power of the Ashikaga Shogunate effectively collapsed, marking the start of the chaotic Sengoku period. In 1568, Oda Nobuna ...

, the castle was completely rebuilt by the Gamō clan with stone walls and a

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 ...

, and ruled by the senior retainer Gamō Satonari.

Edo Era

Beginning in 1600, the castle and its environs were recovered by the

as part of

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 ...

. From 1600 onward, Shiroishi Castle was ruled by the

, who were retainers of the Date. It was also one of the few exceptions to the Tokugawa shogunate's rule of one castle per domain. The castle burned down in 1819, but was rebuilt four years later by Katakura Munekage.

Boshin War

The castle was the meeting place for the delegates of the northern domains in early 1868, during the

. It then became the headquarters of the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei. Following 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 ...

, it was briefly placed in the care of the

Nanbu clan The was a Japanese samurai clan who ruled most of northeastern Honshū in the Tōhoku region of Japan for over 700 years, from the Kamakura period through the Meiji Restoration of 1868. The Nanbu claimed descent from the Seiwa Genji of Kai ...

formerly of

Morioka Domain 300px, Ruins of Morioka Castle was a '' tozama'' feudal domain of Edo period Japan. It was ruled throughout its history by the Nanbu clan. It was called during the early part of its history. It was located in northern Mutsu Province, Honshū, ...

, who were dispossessed of their original holdings by the new

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 assigned a new domain carved out of the southern portion of Sendai Domain. The Katakura clan and its retainers were resettled in

Hokkaidō is Japan, Japan's Japanese archipelago, second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost Prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own List of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; th ...

. The castle was demolished in 1875.

Reconstruction

After being restored in 1995 using traditional materials and building techniques, the castle is now open to the public. Adjacent to Shiroishi Castle is the . The castle was listed as one of the Continued Top 100 Japanese Castles in 2017. The castle has also become a "contents tourism" spot for fans of the video game Sengoku BASARA2, which features

Katakura Kojūrō was the common name of the head of the Japanese Katakura clan, who served as senior retainers to the Date clan. Following the Date clan's move into Sendai han, they were granted holdings at Shiroishi Castle (12,000 ''koku'' in total), which th ...

as a main character.

References

External links

*
"Shiroishi-shi" on Harimaya.com
(28 March 2008)

(28 March 2008).

{{Continued Top 100 Japanese Castles Castles in Miyagi Prefecture Buildings and structures in Sendai Museums in Miyagi Prefecture History museums in Japan Date clan Katakura clan Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei