is a flatland-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 Miyazu, northern Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. At the end of the

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 ...

, Miyazu Castle was home to a branch of the Honjō-Matsudaira, ''

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

Miyazu Domain was a Han (Japan), feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Tango Province in what is now the northern portion of modern-day Kyoto Prefecture. It was centered around the Miyazu Castle which was located in what ...

History

The Miyazu area was the center of ancient

Tango Province was a province of Japan in the area of northern Kyoto Prefecture. Tango bordered on Tanba to the south, Tajima to the west, and Wakasa to the east. Its abbreviated form name was . It was also referred to as or . In terms of the Gokishichi ...

and the location of its

provincial capital A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses the ...

. From 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 ...

, the area was ruled by the

Isshiki clan is a Japanese kin group of the Sengoku period. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Isshiki," ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 16 retrieved 2013-5-25. History The clan clai ...

who served as ''

shugo , commonly translated as “(military) governor,” “protector,” or “constable,” was a title given to certain officials in feudal Japan. They were each appointed by the ''shōgun'' to oversee one or more of the provinces of Japan. The po ...

''. However, in 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 ...

, the area came under the control of the

Hosokawa clan The is a Japanese Samurai kin group or clan. Ancestors # Emperor Jimmu # Emperor Suizei # Emperor Annei # Emperor Itoku # Emperor Kōshō # Emperor Kōan # Emperor Kōrei # Emperor Kōgen # Emperor Kaika # Emperor Sujin # Emperor Su ...

Hosokawa Fujitaka , also known as , was a Japanese samurai ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku period. Fujitaka was a prominent retainer of Ashikaga Yoshiaki, the last Ashikaga shōgun. When he joined the Oda, Oda Nobunaga rewarded him with the fief of Tango and went o ...

(1564–1610) built the first Miyazu Castle at the end of Miyazu Bay in 1580. After the

Honnō-ji Incident The was an attempt to assassinate Japanese daimyo Oda Nobunaga at the Honnō-ji temple in Kyoto on 21 June 1582, resulting in the suicide by ''seppuku'' of both Nobunaga and his son Oda Nobutada. The unprotected Nobunaga was ambushed by his ...

, Fujitaka retreated to Tanabe Castle, while his son,

Hosokawa Tadaoki was a Japanese samurai warrior of the late Sengoku period and early Edo period. He was the son of Hosokawa Fujitaka with Numata Jakō, and he was the husband of a famous Christian convert (Kirishitan), Hosokawa Gracia. For most of his life, ...

remained lord of Miyazu Castle. During 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 ...

, Tadaoki was en route to the Kantō region with his troops in support of

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 ...

while Fujitaka was attacked by forces of the Western Army local to

Ishida Mitsunari Ishida Mitsunari (, 1559 – November 6, 1600) 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 ...

. Fujitaka set fire to Miyazu Castle and entrenched himself in Tanabe Castle, which he successfully defended at the

Siege of Tanabe The 1600 Siege of Tanabe was one of a number of battles which took place in parallel to the more influential series of battles known as the Sekigahara Campaign which led to the unification of Japan under Tokugawa Ieyasu. History The command o ...

. 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 ...

awarded the Hosokawa clan within transfer to

Buzen Province was an old province of Japan in northern Kyūshū in the area of Fukuoka Prefecture and Ōita Prefecture. It was sometimes called , with Bungo Province. Buzen bordered on Bungo and Chikuzen Provinces. History The ruins of the ancient capit ...

, and Kyōgoku Takatomo was placed in charge of the newly-created

, whose 123,000 ''

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. ...

'' encompassed the entire province. In 1621, he divided his domain into three parts, with his heir, Kyōgoku Takahiro, receiving Miyazu. Kyōgoku Takahiro extensively reconstructed the castle into the current layout. However, his son Kyōgoku Takakuni was disposed by the shogunate in 1666 due to poor administration. The Nagai, Abe, Okudaira and Aoyama clans followed as lords of the castle, until finally Honjō-Matsudaira Sukemasa was assigned the domain in 1758. The Honjō-Matsudaira then remained until the Meiji Restoration in 1868, after which the castle fell into complete disrepair.

Background

Miyazu Castle makes extensive use of the Ōte River to the west as its outer moat. The complex consists of the

inner bailey The inner bailey or inner ward of a castle is the strongly fortified enclosure at the heart of a medieval castle.Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton Companion to Castles'', Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003, p. 22. It is protected by the outer w ...

(Honmaru), a second bailey (Ninomaru) to the east and south, separated by a moat, and the third bailey (Sannomaru), also protected by a moat and stone walls. The castle never had a

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 ...

, but instead relied on eight two-story yagura watchtowers located at strategic points along the fortifications. At present, all of the moats have been filled in and the castle site itself has largely disappeared under urban encroachment. Only a few fragmentary sections of the stone walls survive in situ. One gate, the survives, but has been relocated to the entrance of the Miyazu Elementary School. It was restored in 2010. Old photographs show a stone bridge to the main gate of the castle. The original bridge was wood, and the stone bridge depicted dates from 1888. However, it is also now gone, having been replaced by the modern road. The '' Haiden'' of the Atago Shrine in the neighboring town of

Yosano, Kyoto 270px, ''Chirimen Kaido'' in Yosano is a town located in Yosa District, Kyoto, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 20,575 in 8978 households and a population density of 190 persons per km².The total area of the town is . Geograp ...

is a building that was relocated from the entrance of a shrine that once was located in Miyazu Castle.

Literature

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External links

Miyazu Castle at Japan Actle GuideMiyazu City home page
{{Authority control Castles in Kyoto Prefecture Ruined castles in Japan History of Kyoto Prefecture Miyazu, Kyoto Tango Province Kyōgoku clan