was a

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, such a ...

located in the city of Tsu,

Mie Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,781,948 () and has a geographic area of . Mie Prefecture is bordered by Gifu Prefecture to the north, Shiga Prefecture an ...

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 ...

. 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 ...

, Tsu Castle was home to the Sudo clan, ''

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

Tsu Domain was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, located in Ise Province and in Iga Province in what is part of now modern-day Tsu, Mie. It was centered around Tsu Castle. Tsu Domain was controlled by the '' tozama'' Tō ...

, who dominated the provinces of

Ise Ise may refer to: Places *Ise, Mie, a city in Japan **Ise Grand Shrine, a Shinto shrine located in Ise, Mie * Ise Ekiti, a city in Nigeria * Ise, Norway, a village in Norway *Ise Province, an ancient province of Japan *River Ise, a tributary of the ...

and

Iga IGA or IgA may refer to: Businesses and organizations * IGA (supermarkets) (initially Independent Grocers Alliance), a name used by many independent supermarkets throughout the world ** IGA (Australian supermarket group), the local Australian v ...

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 as after the ancient name for Tsu. The castle ruins are a Prefectural Historic Site.

Overview

During the

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 ...

, in 1558, Hosono Fujiatsu built a castle at the conjunction of the Ano and Iwata rivers, using the rivers as natural moats. The port of Anotsu had been an important port for the coastal trade along the eastern coast of Japan; however, after its destruction by an earthquake at the end of the 15th century, it was gradually eclipsed by the ports of Kuwana and Matsusaka instead.

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 ...

took control of the castle in 1568 and ordered his younger brother

Oda Nobukane was a Japanese samurai, the younger brother of the warlord, Oda Nobunaga following the Sengoku period of the 16th century. Following the year of 1568, Nobukane was destined to be adopted into the Nagano clan. Nobukane afterwards shaved his ...

to reside there in 1577 to consolidate Oda control over the Ise region. Under Oda Nobukane, the castle was greatly expanded in size, with the completion of the primary, secondary and third baileys, a five-story ''

tenshu is an architectural typology found in Japanese castle, 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 cha ...

'' and secondary ''tenshu''. Under

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...

, Nobukane was transferred to

Tanba Province was a province of Japan in the area of central Kyoto and east-central Hyōgo Prefectures. Tanba bordered on Harima, Ōmi, Settsu, Tajima. Tango, Wakasa, and Yamashiro provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . In terms of the Gokishichid ...

, and the castle was given to Hideyoshi’s retainer, Tomita Nobuhiro in 1595 along with a 50,000 ''

koku The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. One koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about of rice. It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1,000 gō. One ''gō'' is the traditional volume of a single serving of rice (before co ...

'' domain. Tomita Nobutaka and his wife Yuki no Kata defend Tsu Castle by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi 1885

However, during 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 1600, the Tomita clan sided with the eastern forces under

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 ...

and Tsu Castle was attacked by the western armies under

Mōri Terumoto Mōri Terumoto (毛利輝元, January 22, 1553 – June 2, 1625) was a Japanese ''daimyō''. The son of Mōri Takamoto, and grandson and successor of the great warlord Mōri Motonari, he fought against Oda Nobunaga but was eventually overc ...

and

Chōsokabe Morichika was a Japanese samurai of the Azuchi–Momoyama period through early Edo period. Once the ruler of Tosa Province, his fief was revoked by Tokugawa Ieyasu after the Battle of Sekigahara. His childhood name was Sen'yumaru (千熊丸). Biograph ...

. Although the 1300 defenders put up a stiff defense, the 30,000 attackers largely burned the castle down around them.

Tomita Nobutaka is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese politician *, Japanese gymnast *, Japanese electronic music composer *, Japanese swimmer who participated in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome *, Japanese musician * Kishti ...

and his wife,

Yuki no Kata Daughter of Ukita Yasunobu, was a Japanese female warrior ('' onna-musha'') in the Sengoku period. She was the daughter of Ukita Hideie and Gōhime. She also married to Tomita Nobutaka, an officer of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Her name, birth and deat ...

, successfully defended the castle. The Tomita were rewarded for their loyalty by the

and were given an increase in ''

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. 5 ...

'' and rebuilt parts of the castle by the time they were transferred to

Uwajima Domain file:Date Munenari coloured.jpg, 270px, Date Munenari file:Uwajima Date Museum 1.jpg, 270px, Uwajima Date Museum was a Han (Japan), feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in what is now western Ehime Prefecture on the is ...

Iyo Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area of northwestern Shikoku.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tosa''" in . Iyo bordered on Sanuki Province to the northeast, Awa Province (Tokushima), Awa to the east ...

in 1608. The Tomita were replaced by the Tōdō clan, who ruled as ''

'' over the 220,000 ''

until the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

Tōdō Takatora was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Tōdō clan from the Azuchi–Momoyama to Edo periods. He rose from relatively humble origins as an ashigaru (a light foot soldier) to become a ''daimyō''. During his lifetime he changed his feudal master ...

, who was a noted castle architect, renovated Tsu Castle with a three-story and a two-story ''

'', rejuvenated the

castle town A castle town is a settlement built adjacent to or surrounding a castle. Castle towns were common in Medieval Europe. Some examples include small towns like Alnwick and Arundel, which are still dominated by their castles. In Western Europe, ...

, and increased the clan’s revenues to 323,000 ''koku''.Tōdō Takatora had worked on numerous castles previous to this one, including

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 ...

Nagoya Castle is a Japanese castle located in Nagoya, Japan. Nagoya Castle was constructed by the Owari Domain in 1612 during the Edo period on the site of an earlier castle of the Oda clan in the Sengoku period. Nagoya Castle was the heart of one of the ...

Zeze Castle thumbnail, 260px, aerial photograph of site of Zeze Castle thumbnail, 260px, Edo period layout of Zeze Castle , is a ''hirashiro''-style Japanese castle located in eastern part of the city of Ōtsu, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. Overview Zeze Castl ...

and others. After the ''tenshu'' was destroyed in a fire in 1662, the Tokugawa shogunate did not grant permission for it to be rebuilt, and it was replaced by a two-story '' yagura.'' With the start of the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a coalition seeking to seize political power in the name of the Impe ...

, Tsu Domain initially attempted to remain neutral; however, after the Battle of Toba Fushimi, the domain defected to the

Satchō Alliance The , or was a powerful military alliance between the southwestern feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū formed in 1866 to combine their efforts to restore Imperial rule and overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. History The name ''Satc ...

and attacking the retreating shogunate forces. This contributed greatly to the imperial victory, and greatly demoralized the Tokugawa forces who were shocked at Tsu Domain's sudden defection. The forces of Tsu Domain served in the vanguard of the imperial advance down the Tōkaidō. After the

Meiji restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

as per decrees by the new

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji ...

, the remaining structures of Tsu Castle were dismantled in 1873. The outer moats were filled, and only a portion of the inner moat remains. The site of the Honmaru (Inner Bailey) and Ni-no-Maru (Second Bailey) of the castle came under the control of the

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 ...

, but it was demilitarized and sold back to former lord Tōdō Takakiyo in 1889. The castle site subsequently became a city park. Some of the original stone walls have survived. One corner ''yagura'' was reconstructed in 1958. However, it is not a historically accurate reconstruction, and contains various features copied from other structures to make it more visually appealing. The gate to the Japanese garden now located within the Inner Bailey is a survival from the Edo period

han school The ''han'' school was a type of educational institution in the Edo period of Japan. They taught samurai etiquette, the classical Confucian books, calligraphy, rhetoric, fighting with swords and other weapons; some also added subjects such as m ...

of the domain. Tsu Castle was listed as one of the

Continued Top 100 Japanese Castles The is a list of 100 Japanese castle, castles, intended as a sequel of 100 Fine Castles of Japan. The castles were chosen for their significance in culture, history, and in their regions by the in 2017. Hokkaidō region Tōhoku region Kant ...

in 2017. The castle is located a 15-minute walk from Tsu-shimmachi Station on the

Kintetsu Nagoya Line The is a railway line owned and operated by the Kintetsu Railway, a Japanese private railway company, connecting Nagoya and Ise Nakagawa Station in Matsusaka, Mie Prefecture via Kuwana, Yokkaichi, Suzuka, Tsu municipalities along the Is ...

Gallery

140405 Tsu Castle Tsu MIe pref Japan10s3.jpg, Moats 140405 Tsu Castle Tsu MIe pref Japan04s3.jpg, Gate from the former Han school 140405 Tsu Castle Tsu MIe pref Japan03s3.jpg, Japanese gardens in the former inner bailey

Literature

* * * * *

References

External links

Tsu Castle Jcastle Profile

Tsu City tourist information
{{Continued Top 100 Japanese Castles Castles in Mie Prefecture Rebuilt buildings and structures in Japan Tsu, Mie Ise Province Designated historic sites of Mie Prefecture