Takasaki Castle
| Takasaki Castle | ||
|---|---|---|
 Takasaki Castle, Inui Watchtower |
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| Creation time : | End of the 16th century | |
| Castle type : | Hirajiro (Lower Castle) | |
| Conservation status: | Trench remains | |
| Place: | Takasaki | |
| Geographical location | 36 ° 19 '27.2 " N , 139 ° 0' 2.5" E | |
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The Takasaki Castle ( Japanese 高崎 城 , Takasaki-jō ) is located in the city of Takasaki in Gumma Prefecture . In the Edo period , the Matsudaira Ōkōchi last resided there with an income of 72,000 koku as the larger Fudai daimyo .
Lords of the castle in the Edo period
- From 1604 a branch of the Sakai with 50,000 Koku,
- from 1616 the Toda-Matsudaira with 20,000 Koku,
- from 1617 the Fujii Matsudaira with 50,000 Koku,
- from 1619 the Andō with 56,000 Koku,
- from 1695 a branch of Ōkōchi with 52,000 koku,
- from 1701 the manabe with 50,000 koku,
- from 1717 again the Ōkōchi with 72,000 koku.
history
When Tokugawa Ieyasu took over the Kantō area after conquering Odawara Castle , he left the Minowa Castle ( 箕 輪 城 ) to his house elder, Ii Naomasa ( 井 伊 直 政 ; 1561-1602 ). Ieyasu then gave him the castle Wada ( 和田 城 ) with regard to the important highway Nakasendō in 1598 , which he expanded and then called Castle Takasaki. Naomasa was transferred to Sawayama ( 佐 和 山 ) in Ōmi province in 1601 ; instead, Sakai Ietsugu ( 酒井 家 次 ; 1564-1618) took over the castle in 1604 . Other lords of the castle then followed until Ōkōchi Terusada ( 大 河内 輝 貞 ; 1665–1747) took over the castle. The Ōkōchi then remained lords of the castle until the Meiji Restoration .
The attachment
The castle was on an elevated step on the east bank of the Karasu River ( 烏川 , Karasugawa ; K) and formed almost a rectangle. Its eastern part formed the third castle area, the San-no-maru ( 三 の 丸 , 3), which, together with the western area ( 西 の 丸 , N), the second area (( の 丸 , Ni-ni-maru ; 2) and the central area that enclosed Hommaru ( 本 丸 , 1). There was no castle tower ( 天 守 , tenshu ), its function was taken over by a three-story watchtower, marked in red in the castle plan.
The areas were separated by earth walls ( 土 塁 , dorui ) - occasionally reinforced by stone walls - and moats ( 水 堀 , mizubori ). At the eastern edge of the third area was the main gate ( 大 手 門 , Ōte-mon ; H) and the eastern gate ( 三 の 丸 東門 , San-no-maru higashi-mon ; S).
Today there are administrative buildings on the innermost and second area of the castle grounds, about 1 kilometer of the moat and earth walls of the third castle area have been preserved. The Inui watchtower from the Hommaru (marked orange in the castle plan) and the east gate have also been preserved, albeit not in their original location. These two buildings have been repurchased from private owners.
Remarks
- ↑ In 1632 Tokugawa Tadanaga (the younger brother of the third Shogun Iemitsu) was arrested at this castle. He killed himself the following year.
- ↑ Inui ( 乾 or 戌 亥 ) means the north-west corner of a castle.
literature
- Sugai, Yasuo: Takasaki-jo in: Miura, Masayuki (ed.): Shiro to jinya. Tokoku-hen. Gakken, 2006. ISBN 978-4-05-604378-5 , p. 62.
- Nishigaya, Yasuhiro (Ed.): Takasaki-jo. In: Nihon meijo zukan, Rikogaku-sha, 1993. ISBN 4-8445-3017-8 .
