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 ...

that formed the administrative center of Fukushima Domain, a feudal domain of the

Itakura clan The is a Japanese clans, Japanese clan which came to prominence during the Sengoku period.Meyer, Eva-Maria"Gouverneure von Kyôto in der Edo-Zeit." Universität Tübingen (in German). The family claimed descent from Shibukawa Yoshiaki, the son ...

, located in the center of what is now the city of Fukushima in

Fukushima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Fukushima Prefecture has a population of 1,771,100 () and has a geographic area of . Fukushima Prefecture borders Miyagi Prefecture and Yamagata Prefecture ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Nothing remains of the castle today, and the site is occupied by the Fukushima Prefectural Office and other public buildings.

History

Fukushima Castle first appears in history as when in 1413 Date Mochimune rebelled against the Ashikaga shogunate by barricading himself inside. The

Date clan The is a Japanese samurai kin group.Edmond Papinot, 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 fam ...

retained the castle as one of their southern strongholds throughout most of the

Muromachi Period The , also known as the , is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( or ), which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi ...

. During the time of

Date Terumune was a Japanese samurai clan leader of the Sengoku period. Turnbull, Stephen. (2012) ''Samurai Commanders: 1577–1638,'' Vol, 2, p. 52 He had close relationship with Oda Nobunaga, one of the leading figures of the period. Terumune was the fathe ...

and

Date Harumune was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku period.

it was also called . In 1592,

Gamō Ujisato was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku and Azuchi–Momoyama periods. He was heir and son of Gamō Katahide, lord of Hino Castle in Ōmi Province, and next managed Ise Province as lord of Matsusaka Castle and finally 920,000 koku in ...

conquered the area with his capture of nearby

Ōmori Castle is a district located a few kilometres south of Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan accessed by rail via the Keihin Tohoku line, or by road via Dai Ichi Keihin. Ōmorikaigan, the eastern area of Ōmori, can be reached via the Keikyu line. Ōmori is on ...

and assigned it to his retainer, Kimura Yoshikiyo as the center of a 50,000 ''

koku The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. One koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about of rice. It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1,000 gō. One ''gō'' is the traditional volume of a single serving of rice (before co ...

'' domain. The castle was then renamed Fukushima Castle, as this was regarded as a more auspicious name. In 1601 the Battle of Matsukawa between

Date Masamune was a Japanese ''daimyō'' during the Azuchi–Momoyama period through the early Edo period. Heir to a long line of powerful feudal lords in the Tōhoku region, he went on to found the modern-day city of Sendai. An outstanding tactician, he w ...

and Honjo Shigenaga took place on the plains outside the castle. Following the establishment of 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 ...

, Fukushima was the centre of a ''

tenryō 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 war ...

'' territory with a ''

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. 5 ...

'' of 200,000 ''koku''. In 1679,

Honda Tadakuni commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...

was transferred from Yamato-Komiyama Domain, marking the start of Fukushima Domain. However, he only ruled for three years before being transferred to

Himeji Domain was a Han (Japan), feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Harima Province in what is now the southern portion of modern-day Hyōgo Prefecture. It was centered around Himeji Castle, which is located in what ...

Harima Province or Banshū (播州) was a province of Japan in the part of Honshū that is the southwestern part of present-day Hyōgo Prefecture. Harima bordered on Tajima, Tanba, Settsu, Bizen, and Mimasaka Provinces. Its capital was Himeji. During th ...

. Fukushima Domain was re-established in 1686 for

Hotta Masanaka Hotta (written: ) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese model and television personality *, Japanese footballer *, Japanese ''daimyō'' *, Japanese ''daimyō'' *, Japanese ''daimyō'' *, Japanese ''daimyō'' *, ...

, formerly of

Yamagata Domain was a feudal domain in Edo period Japan, located in Dewa Province (modern-day Yamagata Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Yamagata Castle in what is now the city of Yamagata. Unlike some ''han'' whose control was relatively stable throughou ...

. His son, Hotta Masatora was transferred back to Yamagata in 1700. Fukushima Domain was once again revived in 1702 for

Itakura Shigehiro was a '' fudai'' feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in southern Mutsu Province. It was centered on Fukushima Castle in what is now the city of Fukushima in Fukushima Prefecture. For the majority of its hi ...

, formerly of Itaki Domain in

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 ...

. His branch of the

continued to rule Fukushima to 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 Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

. In 1868 the castle was surrendered to the

Satchō Alliance The , or was a powerful military alliance between the southwestern feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū formed in 1866 to combine their efforts to restore Imperial rule and overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. History The name ''Satc ...

without a battle, and Fukushma Domain was abolished the following year. The castle was demolished at the start of the

Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...

Literature

* * * * *{{cite book , title=Japanese Castles 1540-1640 , url=https://archive.org/details/japanesecastles00turn , url-access=limited , last=Turnbull, first=Stephen, date=2003, publisher=Osprey Publishing, isbn=1-84176-429-9 , page
64
pages

External links

Fukushima Castle at J-Castle profile
Castles in Fukushima Prefecture Ruined castles in Japan Date clan Honda clan Itakura clan