is a ''yamajiro''-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, suc ...

located in the city of Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. The castle overlooks the

Kiso River The is a river in the Chubu region of Japan roughly long, flowing through the prefectures of Nagano, Gifu, Aichi, and Mie before emptying into Ise Bay a short distance away from the city of Nagoya.Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric ''et al.'' (2 ...

, which serves as the border between Aichi and

Gifu Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,991,390 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture ...

s. The ''

tenshu is an architectural typology found in 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 characterized as ty ...

'' of Inuyama Castle, one of only 12 pre-modern ''tenshu'' remaining in existence, is determined to the oldest remaining ''tenshu'', dating from the late 1580s. The castle has been a National Historic Site since 2018.

Background

Inuyama Castle is located on a hill overlooking the

in what is now the city of Inuyama. Inuyama Castle is the oldest of 12 castles to have retained its '' Tenshukaku'' intact. This main tower is small but due to its complex form, it shows different silhouettes depend on the angle. Among the 12 remaining main towers, the ''tenshu'' at Inuyama Castle is designated as a National Treasure of Japan, as are

Matsumoto Castle , originally known as Fukashi Castle, is one of Japan's premier historic castles, along with Himeji and Kumamoto. The building is also known as the due to its black exterior. It was the seat of Matsumoto Domain under the Edo Period Tokugawa ...

Hikone Castle is a Japanese Edo-period Japanese castle located in the city of Hikone, Shiga Prefecture, Japan It is considered the most significant historical building in Shiga. The site has been protected as a National Historic Site since 1951. Hikone is o ...

and

Himeji Castle is a hilltop Japanese castle complex situated in the city of Himeji which is located in the Hyōgo Prefecture of Japan. The castle is regarded as the finest surviving example of prototypical Japanese castle architecture, comprising a network of ...

History

According to the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese ...

Engishiki The is a Japanese book about laws and customs. The major part of the writing was completed in 927. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Engi-shiki''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 178. History In 905, Emperor Daigo ordered the compilation of th ...

'' a

Shinto shrine A is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more '' kami'', the deities of the Shinto religion. Overview Structurally, a Shinto shrine typically comprises several buildings. The '' honden''Also called (本殿, mean ...

, the Haritsuna Shrine was moved to make way for the castle. The structure was rebuilt several times in the

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

and the current configuration was largely the work of

Oda Nobukatsu was a Japanese samurai of the Azuchi–Momoyama period. He was the second son of Oda Nobunaga. He survived the decline of the Oda clan from political prominence, becoming a ''daimyō'' in the early Edo period. Though often described as an inco ...

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese '' daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period. He is regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. Nobunaga was head of the very powerful Oda clan, and launched a war against other ''daimyō'' to unif ...

's son. The antiquated architectural style of the watchtower atop the ''

'' has in the past led many historians to believe this to be the oldest extant ''tenshu'' in Japan, which was confirmed through tree rings in the construction materials dating the structure to the 1580s. Construction and renovations continued through 1620. Inuyama Castle was the final obstacle against Oda Nobunaga's unification of

Owari Province was a province of Japan in the area that today forms the western half of Aichi Prefecture, including the modern city of Nagoya. The province was created in 646. Owari bordered on Mikawa, Mino, and Ise Provinces. Owari and Mino provinces we ...

. After Nobunaga had defeated 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 ...

at the

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

in 1560, his cousin, Oda Nobukiyo, seized Inuyama Castle with the support of Saito Yoshitatsu on

Mino Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today southern Gifu Prefecture. Mino was bordered by Ōmi to the west, Echizen and Hida to the north, and Shinano to the east, and Ise, Mikawa, and Owari to the south. Its abbrevia ...

. Nobunaga recaptured the castle in 1564. After Nobunaga's death,

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and '' daimyō'' ( feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the C ...

appointed Ishikawa Sadakiyo as castellan of Inuyama. Ishikawa rebuilt the defenses of the castle in line with contemporary designs and the current shape of the donjon is a result of this reconstruction. After the

Battle of Sekigahara The Battle of Sekigahara ( Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 ( Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu prefecture, Japan, at the end of ...

, the victorious

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fel ...

expelled the Ishikawa clan and turned the castle over to

Owari Domain The was a feudal domain of Japan in the Edo period. Located in what is now the western part of Aichi Prefecture, it encompassed parts of Owari, Mino, and Shinano provinces. Its headquarters were at Nagoya Castle. At its peak, it was rate ...

. Under the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in ...

, the castle was governed by the Naruse clan, who ruled as ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominall ...

'' of Inuyama Domain as vassals of the Owari Tokugawa clan until 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 r ...

. 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 ...

seized Inuyama Castle in 1871 and destroyed all of its auxiliary buildings except for the ''tenshu''; however, after the castle was damaged in the Great Nōbi earthquake, and it was returned to the Naruse family in 1895, on the condition that they repair and maintain it. The castle was thus unique in Japan in that it was privately owned. In 2004, ownership of the castle was turned over to a non-profit foundation set up by the Aichi Prefecture's Board of Education. It was long believed that the ''tenshu'' of Inuyama Castle was moved to the castle from

Kanayama Castle was a Sengoku period ''yamashiro''-style castle located on top of Mount Kanayama in what is now the city Ōta, Gunma Prefecture, Japan. The site has been protected as a National Historic Site since 1990. The castle was also known as ''Ōta Ka ...

in 1599, until such theory was disproved as a result of examination through a large scale restoration work, involving the dismantling of the ''tenshu'', carried out between 1961 and 1965. Inuyama CastleKeep Tower in 1937.jpg, A view of the castle, taken in 1937 Inuyama Castle and Kiso River.JPG, Inuyama Castle and Kiso River Inuyamajouka1.jpg, Castle Town Inuyamajo2.JPG, Inuyama Festival Inuyamamatsuri1.jpg, Inuyama Castle and

karakuri Karakuri ( ja, からくり, , mechanism) may refer to: * ''Karakuri'' (manga), a manga by Masashi Kishimoto * Karakuri puppet, Japanese 18th/19th century mechanized puppet or automaton {{disambiguation ...

float Inuyamamatsuri.JPG, Karakuri float Inuyama castle front gate.jpg, Inuyama castle front gate

Castle Rulers

The castellans of Inuyama Castle are listed below in order with their dates of reign in parentheses. There were no castellans from 1612–1617 and 1869–1895. *Pre-Naruse Clan # Oda Nobuyasu (1537–1547) #

Oda Nobuyuki , also known as , was the son of Oda Nobuhide and younger brother of Oda Nobunaga, who lived during the Sengoku period of Japan. Nobuyuki conspired against his brother Nobunaga with the Hayashi clan (Owari), which Nobunaga viewed as treason. No ...

(1547–1564) # Ikeda Nobuteru (1570–1581) # Oda Nobufusa (1581–1582) #

Nakagawa Sadanari Nakagawa (中川 lit. "central river") may refer to: Places * Nakagawa (Teshio) District in Kamikawa, Hokkaidō * Nakagawa (Tokachi) District in Tokachi, Hokkaidō * Nakagawa, Fukuoka * Nakagawa, Hokkaidō * Nakagawa, Nagano * Nakagawa, Tochigi ...

(1582–1584) # Ikeda Nobuteru (1584) # Katō Yasukage (1584, proxy ruler) # Takeda Kiyotoshi (1584–1587, proxy ruler) #

Hijikata Katsuyoshi Hijikata (written: 土方) is a Japanese surname, and may refer to: * Hisaakira Hijikata (1870–1942), Japanese businessman * Kensuke Hijikata (born 1922), Japanese photographer * Rinky Hijikata (born 2001), Australian tennis player * Ryuji Hijika ...

(1587–1590, proxy ruler) # Nagao Yoshifusa (1590–1592, proxy ruler) # Miwa Gorōemon (1592–1595) # Ishikawa Mitsuyoshi (1595–1600) # Ogasawara Yoshitsugu (1601–1607) # Hiraiwa Chikayoshi (1607–1612) *Naruse Clan #

Naruse Masanari Naruse (written: 成瀬 or 鳴瀬) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese idol and voice actress *, Japanese test driver and engineer *, Japanese professional wrestler *, Japanese voice actress *, Japanese film ...

(1617–1625) # Naruse Masatora (1625–1659) # Naruse Masachika (1659–1703) # Naruse Masayuki (1703–1732) # Naruse Masamoto (1732–1768) # Naruse Masanori (1768–1809) # Naruse Masanaga (1809–1838) # Naruse Masazumi (1838–1857) # Naruse Masamitsu (1857–1869, 1895–1903) # Naruse Masao (1903–1949) # Naruse Masakatsu (1949–1973) # Naruse Masatoshi (1973–2004)

Literature

References

* * * *

External links