was 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 what is now the Oazaka neighborhood of the city of

Matsusaka, Mie is a city located in Mie Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 157,235 in 66,018 households and a population density of 250 people per km². The total area of the city is . The city is famous for Matsusaka beef. Geography ...

in the

Kansai region The or the lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropol ...

of Japan. Its ruins were designated a National Historic Site in 1982, collectively with the ruins of Taka Castle and Karatachi Castle. All of these fortifications were important citadels of the

Kitabatake clan The Kitabatake clan was a clan that ruled south Ise Province in Japan and had strong ties to the eastern provinces through Pacific sea routes. Among its leaders included Kitabatake Tomonori. Clan heads # Kitabatake Masaie (1215–1274, founder ...

who controlled northern

Ise Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today includes most of modern Mie Prefecture. Ise bordered on Iga, Kii, Mino, Ōmi, Owari, Shima, and Yamato Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . History The name of Ise appears ...

in the

Nanboku-chō period The , also known as the Northern and Southern Courts period, was a period in Japanese history between 1336-1392 CE, during the formative years of the Ashikaga shogunate, Muromachi (Ashikaga) shogunate. Ideologically, the two courts fought for 50 ...

Overview

Azaka Castle is located on a 312-meter mountain overlooking

Ise Bay is a bay located at the mouth of the Kiso Three Rivers between Mie prefecture, Mie and Aichi prefecture, Aichi Prefectures in Japan. Ise Bay has an average depth of and a maximum depth of . The mouth of the bay is and is connected to the small ...

with the mountains of

Mikawa Province was an Provinces of Japan, old province in the area that today forms the eastern half of Aichi Prefecture.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Mikawa''" in . Its abbreviated form name was . Mikawa bordered on Owari Province, O ...

in the distance, and is within the borders of the

Ise-Shima National Park is a national park in Mie Prefecture, Japan. It is characterized by its ria coast and islands scattered around a number of bays. The interior is hilly with Mount Asama-ga-take ( the highest peak. Natural areas * Ago Bay * Kami-shima * Kashi ...

. The ruins are spread over a range of 180 meters east-to-west by 330 meters north-to-south. The name “Azaka Castle” is actually a misnomer, as the castle consists of a pair of fortifications separated by 250 meters. The southern portion is also known independently as and the northern portion as . The Taka Castle and Karatachi Castle mentioned in the National Historic Site designation were smaller detached fortifications built by the Omiya clan, vassals of the Kitabatake, in the early

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

Structure

Shiinogi Castle is the larger and newer of the two portions of Azaka Castle and is considered the main fortification due to its complicated array of earthworks and dry moats. It is centered on two narrow plateaus, with a moat in between at both ends. There are also two vertical moats on the lower west slope on the north side. The Hakumai Castle portion of the fortification is higher in elevation and can be seen from the city of Matsusaka. The base

enclosure Enclosure or inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land", enclosing it, and by doing so depriving commoners of their traditional rights of access and usage. Agreements to enc ...

is a 45m x 60m trapezoid, and the upper enclosure is a 20m x 35m flat oval with small trapezoids at the four corners.

History

The castle was constructed shortly after

Kitabatake Chikafusa was a Japanese court noble and writer of the 14th century who supported the Southern Court in the Nanboku-cho period, serving as advisor to five Emperors. Some of his greatest and most famous work was performed during the reign of Emperor ...

entered Ise Province in 1335 with his three sons, Akiie, Akinobu and Akiyoshi. The Kitabatake were strong supporters of the

Southern Court The were a set of four emperors ( Emperor Go-Daigo and his line) whose claims to sovereignty during the Nanboku-chō period spanning from 1336 through 1392 were usurped by the Northern Court. This period ended with the Southern Court definitivel ...

and had been ordered by

Emperor Go-Daigo Emperor Go-Daigo (後醍醐天皇 ''Go-Daigo-tennō'') (26 November 1288 – 19 September 1339) was the 96th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')後醍醐天皇 (96) retrieved 2013-8-28. according to the traditional order o ...

to wrest Ise Province from the

Toki clan The is a Japanese kin group.Edmond Papinot, Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Toki," ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 61 retrieved 2013-5-9. History The Toki claim desce ...

, who supported the rival

Northern Court The , also known as the Ashikaga Pretenders or Northern Pretenders, were a set of six pretenders to the throne of Japan during the Nanboku-chō period from 1336 through 1392. Even though the present Imperial House of Japan is descended from the ...

. In 1415, Kitabatake Mitsumasa raised an army at this location composed of loyalists from Kii,

Yamato was originally the area around today's Sakurai, Nara, Sakurai City in Nara Prefecture of Japan, which became Yamato Province and by extension a Names of Japan, name for the whole of Japan. Yamato is also the dynastic name of the ruling Imperial ...

and

Kawachi Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the eastern part of modern Osaka Prefecture. It originally held the southwestern area that was split off into Izumi Province. It was also known as . Geography The area was radically different in th ...

s when the coronation of

Emperor Shōkō was the 101st emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')称光天皇 (101) retrieved 2013-8-28. His reign spanned the years from 1412 through 1428. Genealogy His personal name ...

was opposed by the Ashikaga shogunate and withstood a siege by an army led by the

Isshiki Yoshitsura Isshiki (written: 一色) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese manga artist *, Japanese actress *, Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' *, Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' Fictional characters: *Akane Isshiki, pr ...

. The castle briefly disappears from history, and resurfaces again in 1567, when its castellan, Oyama Yoshiyuki repelled repeated attacks by Oda Nobunaga's general

Takigawa Kazumasu or Takikawa Sakon was a Japanese samurai lord and daimyo of the Sengoku period. He was a retainer and military commander of Oda Nobunaga, and later Toyotomi Hideyoshi. His biological son, Toshimasu, was adopted by Maeda Toshihisa, the older b ...

. The castle finally fell due to ruse by

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: ...

in 1567; however, Hideyoshi was wounded in the thigh by an arrow fired by Omiya Yoshiyuki, which is said to have been the only combat wound which he received in his long military career.

Current situation

There are very few physical remnants of the castle remaining today, aside from fragments of earthenworks and dry moats. A monument is located on the southern end of the castle enclosure. The castle ruins can be reached by a one-hour hike from the Iwakuraguchi bus stop on Mie Kotsu Bus No. 48 from

Matsusaka Station is a union passenger railway station in the city of Matsusaka, Mie Prefecture, operated jointly by Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) and Kintetsu. Lines Matsusaka Station is served by the JR Kisei Main Line and is 34.6 rail kilomet ...

on the

JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, ...

Kisei Main Line The is a railway line that parallels the coastline of the Kii Peninsula in Japan between Mie Prefecture and Wakayama Prefecture. The name takes the ''kanji'' characters from the names of the old provinces of and . The line is operated by Cen ...

External links

Mie Prefecture home page

Matsusaka tourism home page

References

{{Reflist Castles in Mie Prefecture Matsusaka, Mie Historic Sites of Japan Ruined castles in Japan