Iga Ueno Castle
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, also known as 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 the city of
Iga IGA or IgA may refer to: Businesses and organizations * IGA (supermarkets) (initially Independent Grocers Alliance), a name used by many independent supermarkets throughout the world ** IGA (Australian supermarket group), the local Australian v ...
,
Mie Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,781,948 () and has a geographic area of . Mie Prefecture is bordered by Gifu Prefecture to the north, Shiga Prefecture an ...
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. The castle is also called , or "White Phoenix Castle," because of its beautiful architecture and floor plan. The castle has been protected by the central government as a National Historic Site since 1967.


Overview

Iga Ueno Castle is located on a hill at the northwestern corner of plateau formed by the Kizu River and Tsuge River, in the center of the city of Iga. The city itself is located in a mountainous basin on an important route connecting the ancient capital cities of
Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...
and
Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...
with the
Ise Grand Shrine The , located in Ise, Mie Prefecture of Japan, is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the solar goddess Amaterasu Ōmikami and the grain goddess Toyouke-hime (Toyouke Omikami). Also known simply as , Ise Shrine is a shrine complex composed of many Shi ...
and provinces of eastern Japan.
Iga Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan located in what is today part of western Mie Prefecture.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Iga" in . Its abbreviated name was . Iga is classified as one of the provinces of the T ...
was a small province separated from neighboring provinces on all sides by mountains. Inhabitants maintained autonomy from outside control through reliance on
asymmetric warfare Asymmetric warfare (or asymmetric engagement) is a type of war between belligerents whose relative military power, strategy or tactics differ significantly. This type of warfare often, but not necessarily, involves insurgents, terrorist grou ...
tactics, which later came to known as ''
ninjutsu , and are terms for the techniques and skills used by spies and scouts in pre-modern Japan known as ninja. Some of these techniques are recorded in ninja scrolls, some which have been published and translated. The study of these scrolls have c ...
''. From around the 1460s until their conquest by Oda Nobunaga in 1581, these warrior families, later known as
ninja A , or was a spy and infiltrator in pre-modern Japan. The functions of a ninja included siege and infiltration, ambush, reconnaissance, espionage, deception, and later bodyguarding.Kawakami, pp. 21–22 Antecedents may have existed as ear ...
, self-governed the province as the Iga ''ikki'', with a headquarters at the site of where the castle now stands.


History

In 1581,
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 ...
invaded and conquered Iga. Construction on Iga Ueno Castle began in 1585 by the command of Takigawa Katsutoshi. 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: ...
,
Tsutsui Sadatsugu was a cousin and adopted son of Tsutsui Junkei, a feudal lord of the Yamato province. At the death of Junkei in 1584, he was relocated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi to Iga Province, where he built the Iga Ueno Castle. In 1585, he participated at Hide ...
(1562-1615), was transferred from
Kōriyama Castle 270px, reconstructed Ote-mon is a ''flatlands''-style Japanese castle located in the city of Yamatokōriyama, Nara Prefecture, Japan. Its ruins have been protected as a National Historic Site since 2023. It is No.194 on the list " Continued 1 ...
in
Yamato Province was a province of Japan, located in Kinai, corresponding to present-day Nara Prefecture in Honshū. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2005). "Yamato" in . It was also called . Yamato consists of two characters, 大 "great", and 和 " Wa". At first, th ...
to rule over Iga. He reconstructed the castle by dividing the hill into an upper eastern half and lower western half, with the upper portion forming the ''honmaru'', or innermost bailey, with a three-story ''
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 ...
'' on its eastern edge. Following 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, ...
,
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 ...
expelled Tsutsui Sadatsugu from Iga Province for his pro-
Toyotomi The was a Japanese clan that ruled over the Japanese before the Edo period. Unity and conflict The most influential figure within the Toyotomi was Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of the three "unifiers of Japan". Oda Nobunaga was another primar ...
stance and installed his trusted general
Tōdō Takatora was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Tōdō clan from the Azuchi–Momoyama to Edo periods. He rose from relatively humble origins as an ashigaru (a light foot soldier) to become a ''daimyō''. During his lifetime he changed his feudal master ...
to rule over Iga and the northern half of
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 ...
. Tōdō also had a reputation for castle architecture and had previously built
Uwajima Castle 270px, Aerial view of Uwajima Castle is a ''hirayama-jiro'' Japanese castle located in the city of Uwajima, Ehime, Japan. An alternate name for this castle is Tsurushima-jō. The castle is one of twelve Japanese castles to still have its histor ...
and
Imabari Castle is a city in Ehime Prefecture, Japan. It is the second largest city in the prefecture. , the city had an estimated population of 152,111 in 75,947 households and a population density of 360 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Th ...
. At Iga Ueno, he renovated the ''honmaru'', giving it high walls. This meant that the walls of the ''honmaru'' of Iga Ueno Castle were the tallest of any castle in Japan. He also significantly expanded the castle area overall, with large
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 ...
terraces of over 100 meters in length extending to the east and west. This gave the castle an overall size of 800 meters by 400 meters in total, with the new inner baily shifted to the western half of the hill. The site of the Tsutsui ''tenshu'' became the main residence, and a new five-story ''tenshu'' was in the process of being constructed when it was destroyed in a wind storm in 1612. However, after the Toyotomi clan was extinguished at the
Siege of Osaka A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...
in 1615, the castle lost its importance and the ''tenshu'' (along with a planned series of water moats and stone walls) was never completed.


Present situation

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 Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...
, all of the remaining structures of Iga Ueno Castle were destroyed. In 1935, the ''tenshu'' was re-constructed out of wood. It houses a museum which holds a collection of artifacts relating to the area's history. Most other parts of the castle remain in ruins, though the towering ''honmaru'' walls still stand. The castle is preserved as Ueno Park. Iga Ueno Castle was listed as one of
Japan's Top 100 Castles 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.Japan Castle Foundation
/ref> Parts of the
Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker who List of works by Akira Kurosawa, directed 30 feature films in a career spanning six decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the History of film, history of cinema ...
movie ''
Kagemusha is a 1980 epic jidaigeki film directed by Akira Kurosawa. It is set in the Sengoku period of Japanese history and tells the story of a lower-class petty thief who is taught to impersonate the dying ''daimyō'' Takeda Shingen to dissuade oppos ...
'' were filmed at Iga Ueno Castle. Immediately alongside the castle is the Iga-ryū Ninja Museum which features a model village and a museum of ninja history and displays. The castle is a 30-minute walk from
Iga-Ueno Station is an interchange passenger railway station located in the city of Iga, Mie Prefecture, Japan, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR-West). Lines Iga-Ueno Station is served by the JR Kansai Main Line and is located 94.5 rail kilometres fro ...
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, ...
Kansai Main Line The is a railway line in Japan, which connects Nagoya Station with JR Namba Station in Osaka. It is jointly run by the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) and West Japan Railway Company (JR West), with the boundary between both compan ...
or a five-minute walk from
Uenoshi Station is a passenger railway station in located in the city of Iga, Mie Prefecture, Japan, operated by the private railway operator Iga Railway. Lines Uenoshi Station is served by the Iga Line, and is located 3.9 rail kilometers from the starting p ...
on the
Iga Railway The is a railway line in Iga, Mie, Japan, operated by the private railway operator . The line connects Iga-Ueno Station with Iga-Kambe Station. The track and trains are owned by Kintetsu Railway, although the trains are operated by Iga Railway. I ...
.


See also

*
List of Historic Sites of Japan (Mie) This list is of the Monuments of Japan, Historic Sites of Japan located within the Prefectures of Japan, Prefecture of Mie Prefecture, Mie. National Historic Sites As of 1 January 2021, thirty-nine Sites have been Cultural Properties of Japan, d ...


References


Further reading

* * *


External links

*
Mie Prefecture Tourism Federation
{{Authority control Castles in Mie Prefecture 100 Fine Castles of Japan Iga, Mie Historic Sites of Japan Iga Province Ruined castles in Japan Museums in Mie Prefecture History museums in Japan