was a castle in the city of

Hikone 280px, Hikone City Hall is a city located in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 111,958 in 49066 households and a population density of 570 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Hikone i ...

Shiga Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,412,916 (1 October 2015) and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Prefecture to the north ...

, Japan. This castle was an important military stronghold of

Ōmi Province was a province of Japan, which today comprises Shiga Prefecture. It was one of the provinces that made up the Tōsandō circuit. Its nickname is . Under the ''Engishiki'' classification system, Ōmi was ranked as one of the 13 "great countri ...

. The

Azai clan The , also rendered as Asai, was a Japanese clan during the Sengoku period. History The Azai was a line of ''daimyōs'' (feudal lords) seated at Odani Castle in northeastern Ōmi Province, located within present day Nagahama, Shiga Prefecture ...

held this castle 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 ...

. Niwa Nagahide held it after the ruin of the Azai clan and later,

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 ...

in the end of the 16th century. This castle was attacked by

Kobayakawa Hideaki (1577 – December 1, 1602) was the fifth son of Kinoshita Iesada and the nephew of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. He was gained the rank of ''Saemon no Kami'' (左衛門督) or in China ''Shikkingo'' (執金吾) at genpuku and held the court title ...

after 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 ...

. The castle surrendered at half a day though the brother of Mitsunari, Ishida Masazumi and his father

Ishida Masatsugu was a Japanese samurai of the late Sengoku period who served the Azai clan and held Ishida castle in Omi province. He was the son of Ishida Seishin. He was the father of Ishida Mitsunari. After the Battle of Sekigahara The Battle o ...

, defended it. Afterwards, Ii Naomasa occupied Sawayama Castle. However, he destroyed it, and moved to Hikone Castle. Much of Sawayama Castle's stone walls and buildings were carried away for use in Hikone Castle. At present, the only indication of this old history is a sign reading "The Site of Sawayama Castle."Former Site of Sawayama Castle HIKONE TRAVEL GUIDE
/ref> There is also a hiking course that leads to the summit of Mount Sawayama, from which hikers see a panoramic view that includes Hikone Castle and

Lake Biwa is the largest freshwater lake in Japan, located entirely within Shiga Prefecture (west-central Honshu), northeast of the former capital city of Kyoto. Lake Biwa is an ancient lake, over 4 million years old. It is estimated to be the 13th o ...

Notable people

* Isono Tamba-no-kami, an officer of

Azai Nagamasa was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku period known as the brother-in-law and enemy of Oda Nobunaga. Nagamasa was head of the Azai clan seated at Odani Castle in northern Ōmi Province and married Nobunaga's sister Oichi in 1564, fathering ...

Gallery

File:The Mt Sawa is looked at from Hikone Castle Shiga.jpg, Mt Sawa seen from Hikone Castle File:佐和山城.jpg, Stone wall File:Sawayama-jo ruin.JPG,

Honmaru 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 ...

Base File:Ryutan-ji sawayama.JPG, In front of Ryutan-ji Temple, which is the entrance to the mountain trail to the castle File:Sawayama_Castle_Site.jpg, Sawayama Castle Ruins File:View_of_hikone-jo_from_sawayama-jo_ruins.JPG, Hikone Castle overlooking Sawayama Castle Honmaruto

References

{{Coord, 35, 16, 46.2, N, 136, 16, 8.13, E, region:JP_scale:60000_source:jawiki, display=title Castles in Shiga Prefecture Azai clan

Notable people

Gallery

Further reading

References