was a series of fortresses and fortifications controlled by 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 ...

, a sect of warrior

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

s in

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 ...

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 ...

who opposed samurai rule. It was attacked and destroyed by

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 ...

in the 1570s. This, combined with the surrender of the Ikki's other main fortress,

Ishiyama Hongan-ji The was the primary fortress of the Ikkō-ikki, leagues of warrior priests and commoners who opposed samurai rule during the Sengoku period. It was established in 1496, at the mouth of the Yodo River, on the coast of the Seto Inland Sea. At the ...

, several years later, ended the threat the Ikko-ikki posed to Nobunaga and other ''

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

'' conquerors. The fortress was situated on a swampy

delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...

, on the border of Owari and

Ise Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today includes most of modern Mie Prefecture. Ise bordered on Iga, Kii, Mino, Ōmi, Owari, Shima, and Yamato Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . History The name of Ise appears ...

s, at the point where three rivers converge, to the southwest of the modern-day city of

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

. Nagashima was in fact a number of smaller fortifications surrounding two primary buildings and not a single fortress. Nagashima Castle was built in 1555 by Ito Shigeharu, and seized by the Ikkō-ikki shortly afterwards, in much the same way they had seized a number of other daimyōs' holdings. The Ganshō-ji fortified monastery formed the second center of Nagashima's defense. At one time, the area may have been known as "Nanashima" or "seven islands". It is currently one island between the Kiso and Nagara Rivers, with

Ise Bay is a bay located at the mouth of the Kiso Three Rivers between Mie prefecture, Mie and Aichi prefecture, Aichi Prefectures in Japan. Ise Bay has an average depth of and a maximum depth of . The mouth of the bay is and is connected to the small ...

at its southern tip. The Oda clan, which controlled nearby lands, was wary of the Ikki's growing power, and engaged them at Ogie Castle in 1569. The Ikki were victorious, and Nobunaga's brother Nobuoki was killed. Nobunaga returned to lay siege to the Ikki's fortress three times, before finally subduing it in 1574 with the help of the Kumano Suigun (Navy) under the control of the Kuki family. He set the wooden structure ablaze, and none of the fortress cathedral's 20,000 inhabitants escaped. According to the members of the Nagashima Historical Society, none of the main castle of Nagashima survived and its true location is unknown. What is believed to be the most probable location is now the site of a junior high school, which was identified in accordance to written descriptions of the area in the 16th century and what is believed to be an old moat. There is a map at the site, next to the school. The reconstructed castle gate was washed away during the

Isewan Typhoon Typhoon Vera, also known as the , was an exceptionally intense tropical cyclone that struck Japan in September 1959, becoming the strongest and deadliest typhoon on record to make landfall on the country, as well as the only one to do so as ...

in 1959. Ganshōji was rebuilt some distance inland. A stone

stupa In Buddhism, a stupa (, ) is a domed hemispherical structure containing several types of sacred relics, including images, statues, metals, and '' śarīra''—the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns. It is used as a place of pilgrimage and m ...

was erected as a memorial to those killed in the burning of the fortress.

Notes

References

* Turnbull, Stephen (2003). ''Japanese Warrior Monks, AD 949–1603''. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. {{coord missing, Japan Buildings and structures completed in 1555 Forts in Japan Former Buddhist temples Former buildings and structures in Japan 1555 establishments in Japan 16th-century fortifications Military history of Nagoya Military history of Mie Prefecture Military history of religion Owari Province Ise Province

See also

Notes

References