was a 17th-century castle, now in ruins, in
Sakura
The cherry blossom, or sakura, is the flower of trees in ''Prunus'' subgenus '' Cerasus''. ''Sakura'' usually refers to flowers of ornamental cherry trees, such as cultivars of ''Prunus serrulata'', not trees grown for their fruit (although ...
,
Chiba Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama ...
. It was designated one of
Japan's Top 100 Castles by the Japanese Castle Foundation.
History
Sakura Castle fell to
Honda Tadakatsu
, also called Honda Heihachirō (本多 平八郎) was a Japanese samurai, general, and daimyo of the late Sengoku through early Edo periods, who served Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Honda Tadakatsu was one of the Tokugawa Four Heavenly Kings (Shitennō) a ...
and Sakai Ietsugu of the Tokugawa army during the
Siege of Odawara (1590)
The third occurred in 1590, and was the primary action in Toyotomi Hideyoshi's campaign to eliminate the Hōjō clan as a threat to his power. The months leading up to it saw hasty but major improvements in the defense of the castle, as H ...
. Chiba Shigetane, daimyō of the Chiba clan, surrendered the castle to the besieging forces on the condition that his clan would not be abolished.
Under the orders of his Lord,
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 ...
, Doi Toshikatsu started construction of this castle in 1610. It was completed in 1617. It was based on the foundations and unfinished work of the Chiba clan, who had started building Kashima Castle on the same site, in the earlier
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 ...
.
["Sakura Castle" jcastle.info http://www.jcastle.info/castle/profile/106-Sakura-Castle]
During the
Edo era
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 ruled by powerful lords, all loyal to the Tokugawa rule. Sakura Castle was considered a location of strategic importance, in particular as it protected the eastern flank of Edo. At its peak it was a large complex; however, it was noted for having no stone walls. The defensive lines were reinforced by deep, dry
moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...
s, and earthen embankments (
rampart
Rampart may refer to:
* Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement
Rampart may also refer to:
* LAPD Rampart Division, a division of the Los Angeles Police Department
** Rampart scandal, a blanket ter ...
s) demarcated the baileys. The main keep was actually a ''
yagura'' relocated from
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 park was used as an ]army barracks
Barracks are buildings used to accommodate military personnel and quasi-military personnel such as police. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word 'soldier's tent', but today barracks ar ...
during 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 ...
.
Current site
There is little left of the original castle, except for the moats, earthen walls, and some stone stairs. The National Museum of Japanese History
The , commonly known in Japanese as Rekihaku, is a history museum in Sakura, Chiba, Japan. The museum was founded in 1981 as an inter-university research consortium, and opened in 1983. The collections of the museum focus on the history, archaeolo ...
stands on the site of the castle.[
]
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
*
* http://japan-chiba-guide.com/narita-area/en/attractions/sakura-castle-park.html
{{100 Fine Castles of Japan
Former castles in Japan
Castles in Chiba Prefecture