is an

Edo Period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

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 ...

in the city of Marugame,

Kagawa Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kagawa Prefecture has a population of 949,358 (as of 2020) and is the List of Japanese prefectures by area, smallest prefecture by geographic area at . Kagawa Pr ...

, Japan. It is located in the center of Marugame city, in former

Sanuki Province was a province of Japan in the area of northeastern Shikoku. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Sanuki''" in . Sanuki bordered on Awa to the south, and Iyo to the west. Its abbreviated form name was . In terms of the Gokishichidō system, ...

on the island of

Shikoku is the smallest of the List of islands of Japan#Main islands, four main islands of Japan. It is long and between at its widest. It has a population of 3.8 million, the least populated of Japan's four main islands. It is south of Honshu ...

. During the

, it was the center of

Marugame Domain file:Kyōgoku Akiyuki.jpg, 270px, Kyōgoku Akiyuki file:香川県丸亀市丸亀城 - panoramio (45).jpg, 270px, Marugame Castle was a Han (Japan), feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in what is now Kagawa Prefecture ...

, ruled by the ''tozama''

Kyōgoku clan The were a Japanese ''daimyō'' and samurai clan which rose to prominence during the Sengoku and Edo periods. The clan descend from the Uda Genji through the Sasaki clan.Papinot, Jacques. (2003)''Nobiliare du Japon'', pp. 27–28./ref> The ...

under 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 ...

. The castle site has been protected as a National Historic Site since 1953. Marugame Castle is one of only a dozen Japanese castles to have an original wooden '

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 ...

' built before 1860.

History

Marugame Castle is located on Kameyama hill at the center of the city of Marugame, in western

. During 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 ...

, this area was ruled by the Kagawa clan, originally from

Sagami Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan located in what is today the central and western Kanagawa Prefecture.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kanagawa''" at . Sagami Province bordered the provinces of Izu Province, Izu ...

, from their stronghold at

Amagiri Castle was a Muromachi period Japanese castle located on the border of what is now the cities of Zentsūji, Kagawa, Zentsūji and Mitoyo, Kagawa, Mitoyo and the town of Tadotsu, Kagawa, Tadotsu, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan. Its ruins have been protected ...

in what is now the city of Zentsuji. The Kagawa clan were vassals of the

Hosokawa clan The is a Japanese samurai kin group or Japanese clan, clan. The clan descends from the Seiwa Genji, a branch of the Minamoto clan, and ultimately from Emperor Seiwa, through the Ashikaga clan. It produced many prominent officials in the Ashikaga ...

, but changed their fealty to the

Miyoshi clan is a Japanese family descended from Emperor Seiwa (850–880) and the Minamoto clan (Seiwa-Genji). They are a cadet branch of the Ogasawara clan and the Takeda clan. At the beginning of the 14th century AD, settled in Shikoku. His eighth ge ...

and then the Chosokabe clan due to the fluctuating balance of power in the region. However, the clan was dispossessed when the area was conquered by

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: ...

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 ...

. Hideyoshi awarded all of Sanuki Province to Ikoma Chikamasa in 1587.. Chikamasa first made his stronghold at Hiketa Castle, but it was inconveniently located at the eastern edge of Sanuki, and built Takamatsu Castle in a more central location to be his seat. For control of western Sanuki, he started construction of a castle at Kameyama hill and named it "Marugame Castle". He turned this castle over to his son, Ikoma Kazumasa. At the time of 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, ...

in 1600, Chikamasa continued to support

Ishida Mitsunari was a Japanese samurai and military commander of the late Sengoku period of Japan. He is probably best remembered as the commander of the Western army in the Battle of Sekigahara following the Azuchi–Momoyama period of the 16th century. He ...

and the Western Army loyal to the

Toyotomi clan 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 ...

; however, he sent his son Kazumasa to join

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 Eastern Army so that the clan would survive no matter what the outcome. After 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 ...

, the Ikoma clan were confirmed in their holdings in Sanuki Province. In 1615, the shogunate issued the ''Ikkoku Ichijōj'' law which allowed each domain only one castle. As the seat of the Ikoma clan was Takamatsu Castle, Marugame Castle had to be abolished. In 1640, the Ikoma clan was demoted to Yashima Domain in

Dewa Province was a province of Japan comprising modern-day Yamagata Prefecture and Akita Prefecture, except for the city of Kazuno and the town of Kosaka. Dewa bordered on Mutsu and Echigō Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . History Early per ...

by the shogunate in 1640 due to

attainder In English criminal law, attainder was the metaphorical "stain" or "corruption of blood" which arose from being condemned for a serious capital crime (felony or treason). It entailed losing not only one's life, property and hereditary titles, but ...

following an uprising, and their holdings were divided. The area around Marugame was awarded to Yamazaki Ieharu, formerly of Tomioka Domain in

Higo Province was an old province of Japan in the area that is today Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū. It was sometimes called , with Hizen Province. Higo bordered on Chikugo, Bungo, Hyūga, Ōsumi, and Satsuma Provinces. History The cas ...

. Yamazaki Ieharu was noted at castle construction, having participated in the reconstructions of

Osaka Castle is a Japanese castle in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan. The castle is one of Japan's most famous landmarks and played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century of the Azuchi–Momoyama period. Layout Th ...

and Shimabara Castle amongst others, and decided to rebuild Marugame Castle with 20-meter stone walls and on a scale above its relatively small territory. The Yamazaki clan died out after three generations in 1658 and was replaced by a cadet branch of the

from Tatsuno Domain in

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 ...

. Under the Kyōgoku clan, the current three-story

was built in 1660 and the castle was considered completed in 1670. The Kyōgoku continued to rule from Marugame Castle to the end of the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

. The domain was an early and staunch supporter of the Imperial side in the

Bakumatsu period were the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate ended. Between 1853 and 1867, under foreign diplomatic and military pressure, Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy known as and changed from a feudal Tokugawa shogunat ...

. After 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 1869, a fire swept through the castle and destroyed the ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

'' palace and the Inui Yagura turret. In 1870, the outer moats were filled in and in 1872 the remaining castle structures were placed on public auction for demolition. However, the auction was cancelled by order of the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

, which laid claim to the castle site for use by the newly formed IJA 12th Infantry Regiment. In 1876 the remaining ''yagura'' turrets and most of the remaining walls were destroyed, but the tenshu and central portion of the castle were preserved. This area was opened to the public in 1919 as "Kameyama Park", and in 1933, the Enjukan, a villa owned by the Kyōgoku clan in the

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, ...

was relocated to its current site within the San-no-maru Bailey. The moats were reclaimed in 1948. The Marugame City Museum, which exhibits historical materials related to Marugame Castle and the Kyōgoku clan opened in 1972. Marugame Castle was listed as one of Japan's Top 100 Castles by the Japan Castle Foundation in 2006.Japan Castle Foundation
/ref> The castle is located a 15 minute walk from then

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 of Japan, prefectures on the island of Shikoku in Jap ...

Yosan Line The is the principal railway line on the island of Shikoku in Japan, connecting the major cities of Shikoku, and via the Honshi-Bisan Line, with Honshu. It is operated by the Shikoku Railway Company (JR Shikoku), and is aligned approximately p ...

Marugame Station.

Cultural Properties

* The of Marugame Castle has been protected as an Important Cultural Property since 1943 * The is a ''masugata''-style gate built in 1670. It has been protected as an Important Cultural Property since 1957 * The is a ''masugata''-style gate built in 1670. It has been protected as an Important Cultural Property since 1957

Gallery

Marugame Castle, Tenshu 002.jpg, Marugame Castle tenshu Marugame Castle01s3872.jpg, View from Ote Ni-no-mon Marugame Castle02s3872.jpg, Ote Ni-no-mon Marugame Castle03s3200.jpg, Ote Ichi-no-mon (right) Ote Ni-no-Mon (left) Goten-omote-mon_Gate_of_Marugame_Castle.jpg, Goten front gate and Tenshu Marugame Castle 002.JPG, Marugame Castle stone walls

References

Literature

* * * * *

External links