Fukuyama Castle (Sōja)

Fukuyama Castle
Fukuyama Castle
福山城
Sōja, Okayama, Japan
	Mount Fukuyama
	Fukuyama Castle Fukuyama Castle
Coordinates	34°38′47.26″N 133°45′35.38″E / 34.6464611°N 133.7598278°E
Type	yamashiro-style Japanese castle
Site information
Condition	ruins
Site history
Built	1335
Built by	Shō Kanesuke
In use	1336
Battles/wars	Battle of Fukuyama (1336)
	National Historic Site of Japan

Fukuyama Castle (福山城, Fukuyama-jō) of

National Historic Site since 1936.^[1]

History

Fukuyama Castle is located on Mount Fukuyama (elevation 302 meters) in the southern part of the city of Sōja. From the Nara period to the Kamakura period the mountain was occupied by a Buddhist temple called Fukusan-ji. In 1335, at the start of the Nanboku-chō period, the site was fortified by a local warlord, Shō Kanesuke, and entrusted to his retainer Makabe Korehisa. The castle consisted of three rings of fortifications and enclosures on the slopes of the mountain. This castle became the site of the "Battle of Fukuyama" as described in the Taiheiki.^[2]

Battle of Fukuyama

In February 1336,

Kinai region, while his brother Ashikaga Tadayoshi lead the remainder up the San'yōdō highway by land. On April 3, Ōida Ujitsuna, a general in the vanguard of Nitta Yoshisada's army loyal to Emperor Go-Daigo laid siege to Shō Kanesuke at Fukuyama Castle to block the Ashikaga army from advancing further eastward. The Ashikaga army reached the castle on May 14, and with overwhelming numerical superiority, soon surrounded Ōida forces. However, despite being greatly outnumbered, Ōida fought well and inflicted 20,000 casualties on the Ashikaga before the castle fell. Ōida also managed to escape the fall of the castle with a small force of 400 men and continued to harass the Ashikaga army from his stronghold at Mitsuishi Castle in Bizen Province near the border with Harima. However, only seven days after the fall of Fukushima Castle, Nitta Yoshisada was killed in combat at the Battle of Minatogawa, which led to the collapse and defeat of Emperor Go-Daigo's forces.^[2]

Present situation

At present, nothing remains of the castle except for remnants of earthworks, dry moats, wells, and fragments of stone walls of the castle gate.

roof tiles and a kiln ruin thought to have been from the Buddhist temple originally on the site.^[2]

Literature

De Lange, William (2021). An Encyclopedia of Japanese Castles. Groningen: Toyo Press. pp. 600 pages.
ISBN 978-9492722300
.

Sansom, George (1961). A History of Japan: 1334–1615. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press

Turnbull, Stephen (1998). The Samurai Sourcebook. London: Cassell & Co.

References

^ "福山城跡". Cultural Heritage Online (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved 25 December 2016.(in Japanese)
^
ISBN 4311750404
.(in Japanese)