Minakuchi Castle
| Minakuchi Castle | ||
|---|---|---|
 Minakuchi Castle, corner watchtower of the outer bailey |
||
| Alternative name (s): | Hekisui-jō ( 碧水 城 ) | |
| Creation time : | 1632 to 1634 | |
| Castle type : | Hirayamajiro (hill castle) | |
| Conservation status: | Partly restored | |
| Place: | Minakuchi | |
| Geographical location | 34 ° 58 '13.6 " N , 136 ° 9' 52.5" E | |
|
||
The castle Minakuchi ( Japanese 水口城 , Minakuchi-jō ) is located in the city Kōka , Shiga Prefecture . In the Edo period , a branch of the Kato resided there last with an income of 23,000 Koku as a smaller Tozama daimyo .
Lords of the castle in the Edo period
- From 1682 a branch of the Kato with an income of 20,000 Koku.
- From 1695 a branch of the Torii with 20,000 koku.
- From 1712 again a branch of the Katō with 25,000 Koku.
history
There were two castles with the same name in the Minakuchi area. The one castle, called Minakuchi-Okayama, was used by the lord Nagatsuka Masaie ( 長 束 正 家 ; 1562–1600). He was one of the losers in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 and committed seppuku . The second Minakuchi Castle was built for Tokugawa Iemitsu in 1632 as a temporary residence. To do this, the old castle was torn down and its stones and other building materials were used. This castle had no lord, a member of the Bakufu government, Tsubouchi Gemba ( 坪 内 玄 蕃 ), was appointed as administrator. The castle, which was completed in 1634, remained without a lord for almost half a century, until finally Katō Akitomo ( 加藤 明 友 ; 1621–1684) received the castle in 1682 . This branch of the Katō soon had to give up the castle again, but received it back in 1712 with slightly increased income and resided there until 1868, the year of the Meiji Restoration .
The central area of the castle, the Hommaru, has a specially protected exit ( 東 出 , higashi-de ), a kind of outer bailey , on the east side . The whole complex is protected by stone walls and is almost completely surrounded by a moat today. It is a small castle complex, but it appears to be particularly successful. The surrounding park was created by Kobori Gonjūrō ( 小 堀 權 十郎 ), a son of the famous garden designer Kobori Enshū .
Today there is a baseball field used by a school and a parking lot on the castle grounds. In the outer bailey, in the restored corner watchtower, there is a small “museum on the history and folk customs of the area” ( 水口 歴 史 民俗 資料wieder , Minakuchi rekishi minzoku shiryōkan ).
photos
Castle with outer bailey on the right
Base of the northwest watchtower of Hommaru
Outer bailey, corner of the entrance
Outer bailey, bridge
Outer bailey, bridge
Vorburg, the corner watchtower inside
literature
- Hashiba, Akira: Minakuchi-jo in: Miura, Masayuki (Ed.): Shiro to jinya. Tokoku-hen. Gakken, 2006. ISBN 978-4-05-604378-5 , p. 100.
