was a

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 ...

''yamashiro''-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, such a ...

located in what is now part of the city of

Tonami is a Cities of Japan, city in Toyama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 48,659 in 16,739 households and a population density of 384 persons per km2. Its total area was . Geography Tonami is located in the Tonami plain ...

Toyama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Toyama Prefecture has a population of 993,848 (1 January 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,247.61 km2 (1,640.01 sq mi). Toyama Prefecture borders Ishikawa Prefecture to the ...

in the

Hokuriku region The is located in the northwestern part of Honshu, the main island of Japan. It lies along the Sea of Japan and is part of the larger Chūbu region. It is almost equivalent to the former Koshi Province (Japan), Koshi Province and Hokurikudō are ...

Honshu , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the list of islands by area, seventh-largest island in the world, and the list of islands by ...

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 ...

. The ruins have been protected by the central government as a National Historic Site since 2009. It was also known as

Background

Masuyama Castle is located on a 120-meter hill in the mountainous area which separates the Tonami Plain from the Toyama Plain in

Etchū Province was a province of Japan in the area that is today Toyama Prefecture in the Hokuriku region of Japan. Etchū bordered on Noto and Kaga Provinces to the west, Shinano and Hida Provinces to the south, Echigo Province to the east and the Sea o ...

. This location is on the border of the three counties of Tonami, Imizu, and Nei, and the castle could command the major transportation route within the province. Although the Hokuriku ''kaidō'', a highway which connected

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 Hokuriku region, passed Kurikara Pass at the border of

Kaga Province was a province of Japan in the area that is today the south and western portion of Ishikawa Prefecture in the Hokuriku region of Japan. Kaga bordered on Echizen, Etchū, Hida, and Noto Provinces. It was part of Hokurikudō Circuit. Its ...

and followed the Shokawa River to

Toyama Bay is a bay located on the northern shores of the Hokuriku region of Honshu, Japan on the Sea of Japan. The bay borders Toyama and Ishikawa prefectures. The bay is known for the mirages on the horizon during the winter months and for being a spaw ...

avoided this area by taking a coastal route, the more direct route passed through this hilly area and Masuyama Castle was located to guard this strategic area. Masuyama Castle is a regarded as one of three major mountain castles of Etchū Province along with Moriyama Castle near the

Noto Peninsula The Noto Peninsula (, ''Noto-hantō'') is a peninsula that projects north into the Sea of Japan from the coast of Ishikawa Prefecture in central Honshū, the main island of Japan. Before the Meiji era, the peninsula belonged to Noto Province. Th ...

and

Matsukura Castle was a Muromachi period ''yamajiro''-style Japanese castle located in what is now the city of Uozu, Toyama Prefecture, in the Hokuriku region of Japan. It was one of the three major mountain-castles in Etchū Province, along with Matsuyama Castl ...

in Uozu area.

History

The foundation of Masuyama Castle was founded during the Nanboku-cho period by Momonoi Tadatsuna (d. 1376), the ''

shugo , commonly translated as ' ilitarygovernor', 'protector', or 'constable', was a title given to certain officials in feudal Japan. They were each appointed by the shogun to oversee one or more of the provinces of Japan. The position gave way to th ...

'' of

. The name Wada Castle came from the nearby Wada River. Momonoi later revolted against the Ashikaga shogunate, and the castle was seized by a shogunal army and awarded to the Ninomiya clan, but the castle fell into ruins shortly after the conclusion of the campaign. Around a hundred years later, the castle was rebuilt as a stronghold of the , retainers of the

Hatakeyama clan The was a Japanese samurai clan. Originally a branch of the Taira clan and descended from Taira no Takamochi, they fell victim to political intrigue in 1205, when Hatakeyama Shigeyasu, first, and his father Shigetada later were killed in batt ...

who had been awarded with the position of ''shugo'' of Etchū Province. The Hatakeyama preferred to rule ''in absentia'' from Kyoto, and the province was sub-divided between the Jinbō, Shiina and Yusa clans to administer on their behalf. By the end of the 15th century, the Hatakeyama clan was significantly weaker and unable to exert their authority over Etchū. Jinbo Yoshimune (d. 1531) attempted to ally with the ''

Ikkō-ikki were armed military leagues that formed in several regions of Japan in the 15th-16th centuries, composed entirely of members of the Jōdo Shinshū sect of Buddhism. In the early phases, these ''ikki'' leagues opposed the rule of local Shugo, go ...

'' movement and to become independent, but was crushed by the Hatakeyama and by the forces of the

Uesugi clan The is a Japanese samurai clan which was at its peak one of the most powerful during the Muromachi period, Muromachi and Sengoku periods (14th to 17th centuries).Georges Appert, Appert, Georges. (1888) ''Ancien Japon,'' p. 79./ref> At its heigh ...

from neighbouring

Echigo Province was an old provinces of Japan, old province in north-central Japan, on the shores of the Sea of Japan. It bordered on Uzen Province, Uzen, Iwashiro Province, Iwashiro, Kōzuke Province, Kōzuke, Shinano Province, Shinano, and Etchū Province, ...

. However, his son Jinbō Nagatomo (d. 1572) took advantage of internal conflicts within the Hatakeyama and the Uesugi and surpassed the rival Shiina clan, uniting the province, and established

Toyama Castle Toyama Castle moat is a flatland-style Japanese castle located in the city of Toyama, Toyama Prefecture, in the Hokuriku region of Japan. It is also called Azumi Castle (安住城 ''Azumi-jō''). Built in 1543, the castle and its surrounding ...

, with Masuyama Castle remaining an important secondary centre. Nevertheless, the Uesugi under

Uesugi Kenshin , later known as , was a Japanese ''daimyō'' (magnate). He was born in Nagao clan, and after adoption into the Uesugi clan, ruled Echigo Province in the Sengoku period of Japan. He was one of the most powerful ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku period ...

invaded Etchū in 1559 and seized both Toyama and Masuyama. He was forced to retake it again in 1562 and in 1576. After Kenshin's death, the area came under the control of

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 ...

, who assigned Etchū to

Shibata Katsuie or was a Japanese samurai and military commander during the Sengoku period. He was retainer of Oda Nobuhide. He served Oda Nobunaga as one of his trusted generals, was severely wounded in the 1571 first siege of Nagashima, but then fought ...

. The Oda army attacked Masuyama and destroyed its ''

jōkamachi The were centres of the domains of the feudal lords in medieval Japan. The ''jōkamachi'' represented the new, concentrated military power of the daimyo in which the formerly decentralized defence resources were concentrated around a single, cent ...

'' in 1581. The castle was subsequently restored by

Sassa Narimasa was a Japanese samurai lord of the Sengoku through Azuchi–Momoyama periods. He entered Oda Nobunaga's service at the age of 14 and remained in his service throughout Nobunaga's rise to power. He was a member of the so-called Echizen Sannin ...

in 1582. Narimasa's situation was unstable. A direct bannerman of Nobunaga, he served

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: ...

reluctantly, and was later sent to

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 ...

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...

, with Masuyama Castle being awarded to

Maeda Toshiie was one of the leading generals of Oda Nobunaga following the Sengoku period of the 16th century extending to the Azuchi–Momoyama period. His preferred weapon was a yari and he was known as "Yari no Mataza" (槍の又左), Matazaemon (又左 ...

. 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 castle was finally abolished around 1610.

Current situation

Masuyama Castle spread over a hill enclosing an area 1,000 meter long and 500 meter width, making it one of the largest mountain castles in Hokuriku region. At the western hillside opposite the river was 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, ...

, and remnants of a clay wall separating the castle town from the castle still remains. All of the structures of Masuyama Castle have long been lost and only some remnants of dry moats and the lines of the clay ramparts remain. The site is open to the public. The castle was listed as one of the

Continued Top 100 Japanese Castles The is a list of 100 Japanese castle, castles, intended as a sequel of 100 Fine Castles of Japan. The castles were chosen for their significance in culture, history, and in their regions by the in 2017. Hokkaidō region Tōhoku region Kant ...

in 2017.

References

External links

Toyama Prefectural Tourist Information

{{Continued Top 100 Japanese Castles Castles in Toyama Prefecture Ruined castles in Japan History of Toyama Prefecture 1390s establishments in Japan Tonami, Toyama Archaeological sites in Japan Historic Sites of Japan Etchū Province

Background

History

Current situation

See also

References

External links