Shingu Castle

Shingu Castle
	Castle remains
Alternative name (s):	Tankaku Castle
Castle type :	Hirayamajiro (hill castle)
Conservation status:	ruin
Place:	Shingū (Wakayama)
Geographical location	33 ° 43 '47.7 " N , 135 ° 59' 32.9" E Coordinates: 33 ° 43 '47.7 " N , 135 ° 59' 32.9" E

The Shingū Castle ( Japanese 新宮城 , Shingū-jō ) is located in the city of Shingū in the southeast of Wakayama Prefecture . In the Edo period , a smaller branch of the Mizuno , who belonged to the Fudai daimyo , last resided there .

Lords of the castle in the Edo period

From 1601 a branch of the Asano with an income of 28,000 Koku ,
From 1619 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868, a branch of the Mizuno with an income of 35,000 Koku.

history

Sketch of the castle

From 1601 the Asano built the Shingū Castle on the Tankaku Mountain (丹鶴山) on the south bank of the Kumano River (熊野川), which soon fell victim to the rule “ Only one castle per province” (一国一城, Ikkoku ichijō) . But it could be rebuilt by the Asano in 1618, then came to Tokugawa Yorinobu (徳川頼宣; 1602–1671), who in 1618 took over the Tokugawa's Wakayama line. Yorinobu gave the castle in 1619 to his caretaker Mizuno Shigenaka (水野重央; 1570–1621), who expanded it further. It then remained in the possession of the Mizuno until the Meiji Restoration in 1868.

In 1667 the central castle area, the Hommaru (本丸; 1), the castle tower (天守閣, Tenshukaku; red) was in the form of "Sanjū-gokai" (三重五階), that is, as a tower with five floors, which on the outside seem to have three floors were summarized. The pre-areas, namely the Kane-no-maru (鐘の丸; 2), the Matsu-no-maru (松の丸; 3) and the demaru fortification (出丸; 4) were also built on the Tankaku, and on At the foot of the hill the area Ni-no-Maru (二の丸), which was protected by a dry inner ditch (空堀, Karabori) and by wet areas as an outer ditch (外堀, Sotobori). A water supply basin has been preserved halfway up in the southeast. Because one had a beautiful view of the mouth of the Kumano River from the castle, the castle was also called "Coastal View Castle" (沖見城, Okimi-jō).

After the Meiji restoration, all buildings were demolished, but the stone foundations and remains of walls still give a good impression of the complex. A partial reconstruction of the castle has been planned since 2018.

The castle is crossed by the Kisei main line (黄瀬本線), which ends in Shingū.