Wakayama Castle

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Wakayama Castle
和歌山城
Wakayama, Wakayama-ken, Japan
The reconstructed concrete tenshu (keep) of Wakayama Castle MapMap around Wakayama Castle
Wakayama Castle is located in Wakayama Prefecture
Wakayama Castle
Wakayama Castle
Wakayama Castle is located in Japan
Wakayama Castle
Wakayama Castle
Coordinates34°13′39.46″N 135°10′17.84″E / 34.2276278°N 135.1716222°E / 34.2276278; 135.1716222
TypeHirayamashiro (hilltop castle)
HeightThree stories
Site information
ConditionThe tenshu and some connected buildings were reconstructed using concrete in 1958.
Site history
Built1585-1586
Built byToyotomi Hidenaga
In use1586 to 1945
MaterialsEarth, stone, and wood
DemolishedMost of the castle during the Meiji Restoration, though the tenshu survived until its destruction from firebombing in 1945.
Layout of the tenshu

Wakayama Castle (和歌山城, Wakayama-jō) is a

Edo Period, it was the administrative center of Kishū Domain, which was controlled by a cadet branch of the Tokugawa clan. Due to its size and status, Wakayama Castle was ranked as one of the most important castles under the Tokugawa shogunate. The castle was designated a National Historic Site in 1931,[1] and its Nishi-no-Maru Garden was designated a National Place of Scenic Beauty in 1987.[2]

History

The Kishū Palace, later known as Tenrinkaku, was formerly from the Wakayama Castle's Ninomaru (photo Taishō 3, 1914)

During the

warrior monks
led a final suicidal charge against Hideyoshi's army, after which the castle surrendered.

Hideyoshi awarded the province to his younger brother, Toyotomi Hidenaga, who was already ruler of Yamato Province. Hidenaga close to keep Wakayama as the seat of his power in Kii Province, as its location was convenient for trade and strategically close to the former strongholds of Negoro-ji and the Saiga Ikki, who still had many sympathizers in the area. With the assistance of Tōdō Takatora, who was noted for castle architecture, he began rebuilding a small fortification on Torafusayama hill which had been a relic of Hatakeyama rule, with low stone walls aligned with the natural terrain, and the central bailey located next to the current central bailey area. Hidenaga appointed Kuwayama Shigeharu as castellan, and remained at Kōriyama Castle in Yamato. Following the Battle of Sekigahara, Tokugawa Ieyasu reassigned the province in 1600 to Asano Yoshinaga.[3]

Asano greatly expanded Wakayama Castle, constructing a three-story

Ono Harunaga, Hanawa Naoyuki and Okabe Noritsuna led 3000 men from Osaka against the castle which was held by Asano Nagaakira with 5000 men, In the Battle of Kashii Hanawa and Okabe were killed, and Ono was forced to flee back to Osaka. After the final defeat of the Toyotomi clan, the Asano clan was transferred to Hiroshima Domain, which had been confiscated from Fukushima Masanori
in 1619.

The Asano were replaced as daimyō of Kishū Domain by

ronin in the aftermath of the battle by hiring them for the domain and further expanded Wakayama Castle with a new northwest enclosure, and greatly strengthening its walls. He also had plans to expand the castle to the south; however, was forced to curtail these plans as rumors began to circulate that he was planning a rebellion. The issue was caused by the 1651 Keian Uprising in which the military strategist Yui Shōsetsu
attempted to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate and used Yorinobu's name without permission. Although cleared of suspicion of complicity, Yorinobu cancelled plans for further expansion of the castle.

Kishū Domain eventually did provide two shogun.

Bakumatsu period
, but ultimately failed to prevent the collapse of Tokugawa rule.

In 1791 the US captains John Kendrick of the Lady Washington and William Douglas of the Grace visited Kushimoto, hoping to open a trading relationship with Japan. News was sent to Wakayama Castle, which sent troops. However, Kendrick and Douglas departed two days before the troops arrived. The result of this first visit of Americans to Japan was largely symbolic for the United States. For Japan it resulted in a new system of alarms and coastal patrols, increasing Japan's isolation under sakoku.[4][5][6]

In 1846, most of the castle was destroyed in a fire caused by lightning, but due to its special status, reconstruction of buildings including the tenshu was exceptionally permitted, and completed in 1850.

Kishū Palace and later Tenrinkaku
.

In 1901, the Honmaru and Ninomaru areas were opened to the public as Wakayama Park, and in 1931 it was designated as a National Historic Site.[3] The castle tower and all of the other Honmaru buildings were destroyed by the bombing of Wakayama by the US military during World War II. and the current tenshu was rebuilt in 1958 out of concrete and is open to the public as a symbol of the city and museum.[7]

Two original gates remain, one of which, the Okaguchi Gate, was designed a National [Important Cultural Property in 1957.[8]

Gallery

  • Wakayama Castle from the castle town
    Wakayama Castle from the castle town
  • View from keep
    View from keep
  • O-hashi-rōka bridge and tenshu
    O-hashi-rōka bridge and tenshu
  • Foundations of the Matsunomaru yagura
    Foundations of the Matsunomaru yagura
  • Okaguchi Gate (ICP)
    Okaguchi Gate (ICP)
  • Nishi-no-Maru Gardens
    Nishi-no-Maru Gardens

See also

Literature

  • Benesch, Oleg and Ran Zwigenberg (2019). Japan's Castles: Citadels of Modernity in War and Peace. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 374.
    ISBN 9781108481946
    .
  • De Lange, William (2021). An Encyclopedia of Japanese Castles. Groningen: Toyo Press. pp. 600 pages.
    ISBN 978-9492722300
    .
  • Schmorleitz, Morton S. (1974). Castles in Japan. Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Co.
    ISBN 0-8048-1102-4
    .
  • Motoo, Hinago (1986). Japanese Castles. Tokyo: Kodansha. p. 200 pages.
    ISBN 0-87011-766-1
    .

References

  1. ^ "和歌山城" [Wakayama-jō] (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  2. ^ "和歌山城西之丸庭園" [Wakayama-jō] (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-4311750403
    .(in Japanese)
  4. ISBN 978-0-06-202019-2
    .
  5. ISBN 978-0-275-95055-2
    . Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  6. ISBN 978-1-60780-008-8
    . Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  7. ^ Wakayama Castle Profile Retrieved August 25, 2016
  8. ^ "和歌山城岡口門" [Wakayama-jō Okaguchi-mon] (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved August 20, 2021.

External links

Media related to Wakayama Castle at Wikimedia Commons

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