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Tsuwano Castle was a mid-size castle, now ruins, in
Tsuwano Castle was a mid-size castle, now ruins, in Tsuwano
is a town located in Kanoashi District, Shimane Prefecture, Japan. As of March 2017, the town has an estimated population of 7,478 and a density of 25.0 persons per km². The total area is 307.09 km².
Description
Tsuwano is remotely locat ...
, Shimane Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Shimane Prefecture is the second-least populous prefecture of Japan at 665,205 (February 1, 2021) and has a geographic area of 6,708.26 km2. Shimane Prefecture borders Yamag ...
, Japan.
History
Thecastle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
was established by Yoshimi Yoriyuki, and it was initially called Sanbonmatsu-jo. Its first purpose was to watch over the province of Iwami. The Yoriyuki
Yoriyuki is a masculine Japanese given name.
Possible writings
Yoriyuki can be written using different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples:
*頼之, "rely, of"
*頼行, "rely, to go"
*頼幸, "rely, happiness"
*依之, "to ...
family ruled there for 14 generations. The 14th generation lord of the castle, Yoshimi Hironaga, supported the Mouri clan in 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 ...
(1600) and was moved to Hagi with them after they lost to the Tokugawa
Tokugawa may refer to:
*Tokugawa era, an alternative term for the Edo period, 1603 to 1868
*Tokugawa shogunate, a feudal regime of Japan during the Edo period
**Tokugawa clan, a powerful family of Japan
***Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543–1616), most nota ...
forces.
Following 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 ...
, Sakazaki Naomori
(1563 – October 21, 1616) was a Japanese '' daimyō'' of the early Edo period, who served as lord of the Tsuwano Domain.
Originally called Ukita Akiie (宇喜多 詮家) he first served his uncle Ukita Naoie and then his son Ukita Hideie. ...
was awarded this domain
Domain may refer to:
Mathematics
*Domain of a function, the set of input values for which the (total) function is defined
** Domain of definition of a partial function
**Natural domain of a partial function
**Domain of holomorphy of a function
*Do ...
for his support of the Tokugawa
Tokugawa may refer to:
*Tokugawa era, an alternative term for the Edo period, 1603 to 1868
*Tokugawa shogunate, a feudal regime of Japan during the Edo period
**Tokugawa clan, a powerful family of Japan
***Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543–1616), most nota ...
in the battle. He vastly expanded the castle. The stone walls at the top of the mountain
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...
date from this period. Naomori
Naomori (written: 直盛) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include:
*, Japanese samurai
*, Japanese ''daimyō''
{{given name
Japanese masculine given names
Masculine given names ...
died in 1616, leaving no descendants. Kamei Masanori
was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the early Edo period. He was the head of the Tsuwano Domain.Edmond Papinot">Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Kamei" at ''Nobiliare du Ja ...
was moved here in his place, and his family ruled as lords of the castle for 11 generations. The tenshu
is an architectural typology found in 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 characterized as ty ...
burned down in a fire caused by lightning in 1686. With the coming of the Meiji Period
The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912.
The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...
, like many castles in Japan, it was dismantled in 1873.
Current site
The Tsuwano Castle site now largely has onlystone
In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...
walls left, though they are extensive. The site has horikiri trenches and some small baileys. Bear
Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the N ...
s are known to live in the ruins, and visitors carry bear bells to scare them off. There are a few buildings left over, including the Babasaki Yagura and the Monomi Yagura."Tsuwano-Castle" jcastle http://www.jcastle.info/photos/view/4002-Tsuwano-Castle
Further reading
*References
{{coord, 34.460, 131.764, type:landmark_region:JP, display=title Former castles in Japan Castles in Shimane Prefecture Ōuchi clan