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 Toyoda county of

Tōtōmi Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today western Shizuoka Prefecture.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tōtōmi''" in . Tōtōmi bordered on Mikawa Province, Mikawa, Suruga Province, S ...

, in what is now part of

Tenryū-ku is one of the three wards of the city of Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It is bordered by Kita-ku and Hamakita-ku in Hamamatsu, the cities of Shimada and Iwata and towns of Mori and Kawanehon in Shizuoka, Shishiro, Tōei and To ...

in the city of

Hamamatsu is a Cities of Japan, city located in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. In September 2023, the city had an estimated population of 780,128 in 340,591 households, making it the prefecture's largest city, with a population density of over the t ...

Shizuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,555,818 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Pref ...

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 ...

. It was built in the

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 ...

and is noted as the site of the death of

Tokugawa Ieyasu Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...

's son

Matsudaira Nobuyasu was the eldest son of Matsudaira Ieyasu. His ''tsūshō'' ("common name") was . He was also called , because he had become the lord of in 1570. Because he was a son of Tokugawa Ieyasu, he is often referred to, retroactively, as . Biography ...

in 1579. In 2018, the ruins were recognized as a National Historic Site together with adjacent .

Futamata Castle

Futamata Castle is located on a long and narrow hill at the confluence of the

Tenryū River The is a river in central Honshū, Japan. With a length of , it is Japan's ninth longest river. Its source is Lake Suwa in the Kiso Mountains near Okaya in Nagano Prefecture. It then flows through Aichi Prefecture and western Shizuoka Prefec ...

with the smaller Futamata River. Surrounded its three directions by rivers, the site was a natural fortification, but was also located in a strategic location guarding the entry into southern

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 ...

. Futamata Castle was originally built by the

Imagawa clan was a Japanese samurai clan that claimed descent from the Seiwa Genji by way of the Kawachi Genji. It was a branch of the Minamoto clan by the Ashikaga clan. Origins Ashikaga Kuniuji, grandson of Ashikaga Yoshiuji, established himself in ...

in 1503 and was assigned to their vassals, the Matsui clan. In 1560,

Imagawa Yoshimoto was a Japanese ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the Sengoku period. Based in Suruga Province, he was known as ; he was one of the three ''daimyō'' that dominated the Tōkaidō region. He died in 1560 while marching to Kyoto to become Shogun. He ...

was defeated and killed at the

Battle of Okehazama The took place on 12 June 1560 in Owari Province, in today's Aichi Prefecture. In this battle, the heavily outnumbered Oda clan troops, commanded by Oda Nobunaga, defeated Imagawa Yoshimoto and established Oda as one of the front-running warlo ...

as was the castellan of Futamata, Matsui Munenobu (1515–1560). His son, Matsui Munetsune held the castle for Yoshimoto's son,

Imagawa Ujizane was a Japanese ''daimyō'' who lived in the Sengoku period through the early Edo period. He was the tenth head of the Imagawa clan and was a son of Imagawa Yoshimoto and the father of Imagawa Norimochi and Shinagawa Takahisa. Biography Ujizane ...

, but the weakened clans were unable to withstand a combined attack from their former ally

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

in 1569. Ieyasu occupied both

Hamamatsu Castle is a ''hirayama''-style Japanese castle ruin, with some replica castle buildings. It was the seat of various '' fudai daimyō'' who ruled over Hamamatsu Domain, Tōtōmi Province, in what is now central Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan und ...

and Futamata Castle, and assigned Futamata to his ally, Udono Ujinaga. However, fearing that Udono was lukewarm towards the

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 ...

, Ieyasu soon replaced him with a '' fudai'' vassal, Nakane Masateru. In October 1572, Takeda Shingen launched a massive invasion and overran Tōtōmi Province, capturing Futamata after a siege of one month. The Takeda forces defeated the

Tokugawa clan The is a Japanese dynasty which produced the Tokugawa shoguns who ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868 during the Edo period. It was formerly a powerful ''daimyō'' family. They nominally descended from Emperor Seiwa (850–880) and were a branch of ...

at the

Battle of Mikatagahara The took place during the Sengoku period of Japan between Takeda Shingen and Tokugawa Ieyasu in Hamamatsu, Mikatagahara, Tōtōmi Province on 25 January 1573. Shingen attacked Ieyasu at the plain of Mikatagahara north of Hamamatsu during hi ...

; however, due to the sudden death of Takeda Shingen in 1573, the invasion collapsed, and the Takeda armies retreated back to Kai Province. Over the next few years, his successor,

Takeda Katsuyori was a Japanese ''daimyō'' (military lord) of the Sengoku period, who was famed as the head of the Takeda clan and the successor to the legendary warlord Takeda Shingen. He was son-in-law of Hojo Ujiyasu, ''daimyō'' of Hojo clan. Early life H ...

contested Tokugawa Ieyasu for control of Tōtōmi Province, but was defeated at the

Battle of Nagashino The was a famous battle in History of Japan, Japanese history, fought in 1575 at Nagashino Castle, Nagashino in Mikawa Province (present-day Nagashino, Shinshiro, Aichi Prefecture). The allied forces of Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu (38,000) ...

by a coalition of Tokugawa Ieyasu and

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 ...

. Futamata Castle remained under the control of the Takeda clan after the battle, and after a siege over six months, finally surrendered to the Tokugawa at the end of 1575. Futamata Castle was then entrusted to Ieyasu's general

Ōkubo Tadayo was a samurai general in the service of Tokugawa Ieyasu in the Azuchi–Momoyama period, subsequently becoming a ''Daimyō'' of Odawara Domain in early Edo period, Japan. Biography Ōkubo Tadayo was the eldest son of Ōkubo Tadakazu, a her ...

. In 1579, Ieyasu's son and heir,

, was ordered to relocate to Futamata Castle from Hamamatsu, where after a couple of months he was ordered to commit ''

seppuku , also known as , is a form of Japanese ritualistic suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honor, but was also practiced by other Japanese people during the Shōwa era (particularly officers near ...

'', His mother (and Ieyasu's official wife),

Lady Tsukiyama Lady Tsukiyama or was a Japanese noble lady and aristocrat from the Sengoku period. She was the chief consort of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the ''daimyō'' who would become the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate. She was the mother ...

was executed as well. The official charges were that of conspiracy with the Takeda clan, but the precise reasons for this event are not entirely clear. Oda Nobunaga feared that the talented Matsudaira Nobuyasu posed a threat to his own son,

Oda Nobutada was a samurai and the eldest son of Oda Nobunaga, who fought in many battles during the Sengoku period of Japan. He commanded armies under his father in battles against Matsunaga Hisahide and against the Takeda clan. Biography Oda Nobutada w ...

, and Lady Tsukiyama was from the Imagawa clan and also had connections with the Takeda. Nobunaga's successor,

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: ...

ordered that the Tokugawa relocate to the

Kantō region The is a geography, geographical region of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures of Japan, prefectures: Chiba Prefecture, Chiba, Gunma Prefe ...

in 1590, and gave both Futamata and Hamamatsu's castles to his own general,

Horio Yoshiharu was a Japanese ''daimyō'' during the Azuchi–Momoyama and Edo periods. He was appointed to the position of one of san-''chūrō'' (three arbiters) by Toyotomi Hideyoshi along with Ikoma Chikamasa and Nakamura Kazuuji. He was the first ...

. Yoshiharu reformed the castle with stone walls and a main keep, but was subsequently transferred to

Izumo Province was an Old provinces of Japan, old province of Japan which today consists of the eastern part of Shimane Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province is in the Chūgoku region. History During the early Kofun period (3rd century) this reg ...

in 1600, at which time the castle was abandoned. In 1896, a

Shinto shrine A Stuart D. B. Picken, 1994. p. xxiii is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more kami, , the deities of the Shinto religion. The Also called the . is where a shrine's patron is or are enshrined.Iwanami Japanese dic ...

dedicated to the war dead of the

First Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 189417 April 1895), or the First China–Japan War, was a conflict between the Qing dynasty of China and the Empire of Japan primarily over influence in Joseon, Korea. In Chinese it is commonly known as th ...

was constructed on the site of the northern ''

kuruwa is a Japanese term for the walls of a Japanese castle, and the regions bounded by the arrangement of those walls. The term may also be written as 郭, and the term is also used for castles built after the Edo period. The kuruwa serves as a de ...

'' enclosure. It was subsequently rededicated to include the war dead of the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...

and the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...

Tobayama Castle

Tobayama Castle is located on the next hill from Futamata Castle, separated by the narrow Futamata River. It was originally built in 1572 by the Tokugawa forces laying siege to Futamata Castle, but was but later expanded and rebuilt by Horio Yoshiharu as a residential castle, as Futamata Castle had only limited space to build a large residence. The

inner bailey The inner bailey or inner ward of a castle is the strongly fortified enclosure at the heart of a medieval castle.Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton Companion to Castles'', Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003, p. 22. It is protected by the outer ...

of Tobayama Castle is a 100-meter-square space surrounded by stone walls with a ''masugata'' (composite gate) guarded by large stones. The two castles were operated as one by Horio Yoshiharu and Tobayama Castle was also abandoned in 1600. Half broken stone walls remain at the site of its inner bailey.

Notes

References

* * * *{{cite book , title=Japanese Castles 1540–1640 , last=Turnbull, first=Stephen, year=2003, publisher=Osprey Publishing, isbn=1-84176-429-9 , page= 64 pages

External links

Shizuoka Tourist InformationFutamata Castle at JCastle
Castles in Shizuoka Prefecture Ruined castles in Japan Historic Sites of Japan Buildings and structures in Hamamatsu Tokugawa clan Tōtōmi Province

Futamata Castle

Tobayama Castle

Notes

See also

References

External links