was a seaside-style castle located in what is now the city of

Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. Ob ...

Fukui Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Fukui Prefecture has a population of 737,229 (1 January 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,190 Square kilometre, km2 (1,617 sq mi). Fukui Prefecture border ...

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 ...

. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1976). ''Historical and geographical dictionary of Japan'' During 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 ...

, it was the headquarters of a junior branch of the

Sakai clan The was a Japanese clan, Japanese samurai clan that claimed descent from the Nitta clan, Nitta branch of the Minamoto clan, who were in turn descendants of Emperor Seiwa. Serata (Nitta) Arichika, a samurai of the 14th century, was the common a ...

, who were hereditary ''

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 ...

'' of

Obama Domain The was a '' Fudai'' feudal domain of the Edo period of Japan. It is located in Wakasa Province, in the Hokuriku region of the island Honshū. The domain was centered at Obama Castle, located in the center of what is now the city of Obama in ...

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 was also known by the name of .

History

Following 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 1601, the victorious

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 ...

awarded

Wakasa Province was a province of Japan in the area that is today the southwestern portion of Fukui Prefecture in the Hokuriku region of Japan. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Wakasa''" in . Wakasa bordered on Echizen, Ōmi, Tanba, Tango, and Yamash ...

to his general,

Kyōgoku Takatsugu was a ''daimyō'' (military feudal lord) of Ōmi Province and Wakasa Province during the late Sengoku period of History of Japan, Japan's history.Edmond Papinot, Papinot, Edmond. (2003)''Nobiliare du Japon'', pp. 27–28./ref> Biography His chi ...

. At first, Takatsugu moved into

Nochiseyama Castle was a Sengoku period ''yamashiro''-style Japanese castle located in what is now part of the city of Obama, Fukui Prefecture in the Hokuriku region of Honshu, Japan. The ruins have been protected as a National Historic Site since 1997. Backgroun ...

, the ancestral seat of the

Takeda clan The was a Japanese samurai clan active from the late Heian period until the late 16th century. The clan was historically based in Kai Province in present-day Yamanashi Prefecture. The clan reached its greatest influence under the rule of Taked ...

, which was built on a mountain overlooking the city of Obama. However, he quickly decided to build a new castle on a river delta in Obama Bay, which would give him greater control of the ''

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 ...

'' and the strategic port. Construction was continued by his son

Kyōgoku Tadataka was a Japanese noble and the ''daimyō'' and head of the of Japan during the Edo period in the early 17th century. Life His Childhood name was Kumamaro (熊麿). Kyōgoku Tadataka was a member and head of the powerful Kyōgoku clan who cla ...

from 1609; however, Tadataka was transferred to

Izumo Province was an Old provinces of Japan, old province of Japan which today consists of the eastern part of Shimane Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province is in the Chūgoku region. History During the early Kofun period (3rd century) this reg ...

in 1634, before the castle was completed. The

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 ...

was replaced by

Sakai Tadakatsu was a Sengoku period Japanese samurai, and early Edo period ''daimyō'' and served in several important positions within the administration of the Tokugawa shogunate. Papinot, Edmond. (2003)''Nobiliare du Japon'' Sakai. pp. 50–51 Biography T ...

, an important retainer of the shogunate, who had served as ''

Tairō ''Tairō'' (, "great elder") was a high-ranking official position in the Tokugawa shogunate government of Japan, roughly comparable to the office of prime minister. The ''tairō'' presided over the governing '' rōjū'' council in the event of an ...

'' under shōgun

Tokugawa Iemitsu was the third ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate, Tokugawa dynasty. He was the eldest son of Tokugawa Hidetada with Oeyo, and the grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Lady Kasuga was his wet nurse, who acted as his political adviser and was at the ...

and

Tokugawa Ietsuna was the fourth ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa dynasty of Japan who was in office from 1651 to 1680. He is considered the eldest son of Tokugawa Iemitsu, which makes him the grandson of Tokugawa Hidetada and the great-grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu. ...

. He modified the layout of the castle and completed it in 1641. The Sakai clan continued to rule from Obama Castle for fourteen generations over 237 years to the end of the

. Most of the castle was destroyed by a fire in 1871 during the construction of an

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 ...

barracks, and although the donjon survived, it was scrapped in 1875. Much of the second bailey is now occupied by residential housing, and only a portion of the moats, strong ramparts and foundation of the donjon survive. A

Shinto shrine A Stuart D. B. Picken, 1994. p. xxiii is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more kami, , the deities of the Shinto religion. The Also called the . is where a shrine's patron is or are enshrined.Iwanami Japanese dic ...

, the Obama Jinja is now located near the site of the donjon. In 1956, the site of Obama Castle was designated a prefectural historic site.

Layout

Obama Castle was built on the shores of the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...

, on a needle-like peninsula formed by the Kita, Tada, and Minami Rivers, which contribute greatly to its natural defences. At the southwestern edge 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 ...

was a 29-meter three-story

donjon A keep 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 castles that were fortified residenc ...

modelled after the Fujimi Yagura at

Edo Castle is a flatland castle that was built in 1457 by Ōta Dōkan in Edo, Toshima District, Musashi Province. In modern times it is part of the Tokyo Imperial Palace in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is therefore also known as . Tokugawa Ieyasu established th ...

. The inner bailey was projected by a concentric outer bailey with 30 ''yagura'' watchtowers and by water moats.

Gallery

Obama Shrine Haiden.jpg, The Obama shrine hall near the ruined castle Obama Shrine Torii.jpg, The Obama shrine torri near the ruined castle Obama Castle Ruins (26967644160).jpg, The Obama castle ruins Obama Tenshu.jpg, Obama Castle donjon, pre-1871 Obama-jo Castle 1910.jpg, The Obama castle in 1910 Ruins of Obama Unpin-jo Castle.jpg, The Obama castle before the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

References

External links

*{{Commons category inline, Obama Castle (Fukui) *http://www.jcastle.info/view/Obama_Castle JCastle on Fukui Castle
Japanese Castle Explorer
Castles in Fukui Prefecture Buildings and structures in Obama, Fukui Sakai clan Kyōgoku clan Wakasa Province Ruined castles in Japan Designated historic sites of Fukui Prefecture

History

Layout

Gallery

Further reading

References

External links