is an

Edo Period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional ''daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

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 ...

in the city of

Kōchi Kochi is a city in Kerala, India. Kochi or Kōchi may also refer to: People * Kochi people, a predominantly Pashtun nomadic people of Afghanistan * , a Japanese surname: ** Arata Kochi (born 1948 or 1949), Japanese physician and World Health Org ...

Kōchi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kōchi Prefecture has a population of 757,914 (1 December 2011) and has a geographic area of 7,103 km2 (2,742 sq mi). Kōchi Prefecture borders Ehime Prefecture to the northwest and T ...

, Japan. It is located at Otakayama hill, at the center of Kōchi city, which in turn is located at the center of the Kōchi Plain, the most prosperous area of former

Tosa Province was a province of Japan in the area of southern Shikoku. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tosa''" in . Tosa bordered on Awa to the northeast, and Iyo to the northwest. Its abbreviated form name was . In terms of the Gokishichidō syst ...

on the island of

Shikoku is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan. It is long and between wide. It has a population of 3.8 million (, 3.1%). It is south of Honshu and northeast of Kyushu. Shikoku's ancient names include ''Iyo-no-futana-shima'' (), ...

. From 1601 to 1871, it was the center of

Tosa Domain The was a Han (Japan), feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, controlling all of Tosa Province in what is now Kōchi Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. It was centered around Kōchi Castle, and was ruled throughout its ...

, ruled by the ''tozama''

Yamauchi clan The Yamauchi clan (山内氏) were a family of rulers over what was then the Tosa Province which spanned the southern half of Shikoku island. The province was given to the family in 1600 after Yamauchi Kazutoyo led troops under Tokugawa Ieyasu ...

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 site has been protected as a National Historic Site since 1959, with the area under protection expanded in 2014.

History

During the

Sengoku period The was a period in Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the feudal system of Japan under the Ashikaga shogunate. Variou ...

, Tosa Province was dominated by

Chōsokabe Motochika was a prominent '' daimyō'' in Japanese Sengoku-period. He was the 21st chief of the Chōsokabe clan of Tosa Province (present-day Kōchi Prefecture), the ruler of Shikoku region. Early life and rise He was the son and heir of Chōsokabe ...

, who conquered most of Shikoku from stronghold at Okō Castle. However, Okō Castle was a mountain stronghold with little room for the development of a

castle town A castle town is a settlement built adjacent to or surrounding a castle. Castle towns were common in Medieval Europe. Some examples include small towns like Alnwick and Arundel, which are still dominated by their castles. In Western Europe, ...

. After his defeat by

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 ...

in 1585, Motochika decided to construct a new castle at Otakayama hill and the ruins of an ancient fortification which had been constructed by Otakasa Matsuomaru sometime during the late

Heian The Japanese word Heian (平安, lit. "peace") may refer to: * Heian period, an era of Japanese history * Heian-kyō Heian-kyō was one of several former names for the city now known as Kyoto. It was the official capital of Japan for over one ...

Kamakura is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Kamakura has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 persons per km² over the total area of . Kamakura was designated as a city on 3 November 1939. Kama ...

period. Although the new castle had the advantages of space and a central location, the area around the hill at this time was extremely swampy, due to the influx of alluvial sediments from the Kagami River, and was prone to flooding.Kochi City Online Guide, "History"
in English Motochika shortly afterwards moved once again to a new location at Urado Castle on the coast, which also had the advantage of being closer to his fleet. However, Motochika's successor

Chōsokabe Morichika was a Japanese samurai of the Azuchi–Momoyama period through early Edo period. Once the ruler of Tosa Province, his fief was revoked by Tokugawa Ieyasu after the Battle of Sekigahara. His childhood name was Sen'yumaru (千熊丸). Biography ...

joined the 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 primary ...

Western Army at 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 ...

in 1600, and was subsequently deprived of his title, and later his life. The victorious

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 ...

ordered Yamauchi Kazutoyo, lord of

Kakegawa Castle is a ''hirayama''-style Japanese castle. It was the seat of various '' fudai daimyō'' clans who ruled over Kakegawa Domain, Tōtōmi Province, in what is now central Kakegawa, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. Background Kakegawa Castle is located ...

Tōtōmi Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today western Shizuoka Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tōtōmi''" in . Tōtōmi bordered on Mikawa, Suruga and Shinano Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . The or ...

to take control of the province as ''daimyō'' of the newly-created

, with a nominal ''

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. ...

'' of 202,600 '' koku''. M. B. Jensen, ''The making of modern Japan'', (Harvard University Press, 2002), pp. 51–52 Kazutoyo first entered Urado Castle, but its defenses were weak, so he rebuilt Otakayama Castle from 1601 to 1611 on a larger scale. He renamed the castle "Kawanakayama Castle", and later changed the name to Kōchi Castle.Kōchi City Online Guide, "Sightseeing in Kochi City"
in Englis

/ref> Much of the original fortress burned down in 1727; it was reconstructed between 1729 and 1753 in the original style. During the Boshin War, Kōchi escaped any damage, and the castle was also exempted from the post-

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 ...

orders to destroy all remaining feudal fortifications.The castle also survived

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

unscathed, and underwent major restoration from 1948 to 1959. Though no battles were fought at the castle, it is noteworthy because the castle is the original structure, and not a post-war replica. It is also the only castle in Japan to retain both its original ''

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 ...

'', or

keep A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in ...

, and its palace, the residence of the local ''daimyō''.Architecture in the Feudal Style: Japanese Feudal Residences, Hashimoto Fumio, trans. and adapted by H. Mack Morton, Kodansha International Ltd. and Shinonbu, 1981, pp. 144-6 In fact, it is the only castle to have all the original buildings in the ''

honmaru 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 ...

'', or innermost ring of defense, still standing. Kōchi Castle was listed as one of

Japan's Top 100 Castles The castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private ...

by the Japan Castle Foundation in 2006.Japan Castle Foundation
/ref> The castle is a 20-minute walk from the

JR Shikoku The , commonly known as , is the smallest of the seven constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates of intercity and local rail services in the four prefectures on the island of Shikoku in Japan. The company has it ...

Kōchi Station.

Cultural Property Status

As one of only twelve intact castles in Japan, Kōchi Castle was formerly designated a

National Treasure The idea of national treasure, like national epics and national anthems, is part of the language of romantic nationalism, which arose in the late 18th century and 19th centuries. Nationalism is an ideology that supports the nation as the fundam ...

() before the 1950 National Treasure Protection Law (文化財保護法施) was enacted. After the law was passed, several surviving structures within the castle grounds were individually given National Important Cultural Property designations: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Kochi Castle08.JPG, Tenshu and Tenshu Northwest Arrow Wall 高知城黒鉄門.JPG, Kuroganemon Kochi Castle14s3872.jpg, Tsume-mon Kochi Castle11.JPG, Ōtemon

Structure

Two rivers, the and the Enokuchi River, form the outer moat of the castle. The castle is relatively small, as it was constructed primarily as a defense against possible rebellion by former Chōsokabe retainers, who were very unhappy with the death of their lord and the imposition of rule by the Yamauchi clan and Tokugawa Shogunate. The central bailey at the peak of the hill is an isolated area connected to secondary bailey only by bridge, and wholly surrounded by stone walls and ''yagura'' watchtowers. In case of emergency the bridge could be destroyed and the isolated defenders in the ''

'' could wait for the reinforcements from branch castles. The ''tenshu'' is five stories high and sits atop Otakasa Hill, commanding an extensive view of the city. Each roads from hillside area to central area are steep and folded, and climbing enemies are exposed to continuous attack from upper area, including main tower. Inside central area, other than the ''tenshu'', the Kaitokukan palace was located. This was constructed in the ''

Shoin is a type of audience hall in Japanese architecture that was developed during the Muromachi period. The term originally meant a study and a place for lectures on the sūtra within a temple, but later it came to mean just a drawing room or st ...

'' style. The castle retains this structure today and has been fitted with period-appropriate items in the lower rooms. In addition to a

tearoom A teahouse (mainly Asia) or tearoom (also tea room) is an establishment which primarily serves tea and other light refreshments. A tea room may be a room set aside in a hotel especially for serving afternoon tea, or may be an establishment whic ...

genkan are traditional Japanese entryway areas for a house, apartment, or building, a combination of a porch and a doormat. It is usually located inside the building directly in front of the door. The primary function of is for the removal of sho ...

(entrance area), and latrine, the Kaitokukan contains eight traditional rooms, ranging in size from three to twelve

tatami A is a type of mat used as a flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. Tatamis are made in standard sizes, twice as long as wide, about 0.9 m by 1.8 m depending on the region. In martial arts, tatami are the floor used for train ...

. It is surrounded by a

veranda A veranda or verandah is a roofed, open-air gallery or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front and sides of the structure. Although the form ''vera ...

on the east and south sides. The Kaitokukan also burned during the fire of 1727, but it was not repaired until 1747, with work completed in 1749. Below the central area seondary area and other terraces covered with tall stone walls were built. The main gate of the castle located at south east direction of the hill, and outer moat surrounded south half. The castle grounds are now a public park, and a popular location in spring for ''

hanami is the Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the transient beauty of flowers; in this case almost always refer to those of the or, less frequently, trees. From the end of March to early May, cherry trees bloom all over Japan, and around ...

''. They contain the Prefectural Library and the Kōchi Literary Museum, in addition to statues of notable scions of the

References

Literature

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External links