Tsurugaoka Castle
| Tsurugaoka Castle | ||
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 Tsurugaoka Castle, inner moat |
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| Creation time : | Mid 16th century | |
| Castle type : | Hirajiro (Lower Castle) | |
| Conservation status: | Ramparts and ditches partially exist | |
| Place: | Tsuruoka | |
| Geographical location | 38 ° 43 '40.1 " N , 139 ° 49' 28.3" E | |
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The Tsurugaoka Castle ( Japanese 鶴 ヶ 岡 城 , Tsurugaoka-jō ) is located in the city of Tsuruoka in Yamagata Prefecture . In the Edo period , a branch of the Sakai resided there as a larger Fudai daimyo .
Lords of the castle in the Edo period
history
The previous castle to Tsurugaoka Castle was called Taihōji Castle ( 太 宝 寺 城 ). In the Sengoku period, it was a place contested by the Mogami and Uesugi. After the Battle of Sekigahara , the lord of Yamagata Castle , Mogami Yoshiaki ( 最 上 義 光 ; 1546–1614) resided there in seclusion , repaired it and called it Tsurugaoka. Originally, Tsurugaoka was a neighboring castle like Kamegasaki Castle ( 亀 ヶ 崎 ) and that's how it got its name: kame = turtle and tsuru = crane form a pair in Japanese mythology .
After Yoshiaki's grandson was transferred in 1622 for poor administration, a branch of the Sakai, coming from Matsushiro Castle in Shinano Province , took over the castle. The Sakai built the castle together with the castle town from the following year as the center of the Shōnai region ( 庄内 地域 ) and resided there for twelve generations until the beginning of the Meiji period in 1868.
The attachment
The castle was built on a slight hill west of the Akagawa River ( 赤 川 ). It consisted of the central area, the Hommaru ( 本 丸 ; 1) surrounded by a moat, which was completely surrounded by the second area, the Ni-no-maru (二 の 丸; 2) also surrounded by a moat. Around it a spacious third area, the San-no-maru ( 三 の 丸 ), was laid out, which had the character of a castle town, but also by a moat, supplemented by the Uchigawa River (内 川) in the east, and partly with ramparts was protected. The complex is a good example of a Japanese type of castle with a ring structure ( 輪 郭 式 , rinkaku-shiki ).
In Hommaru there was a residence with a considerable extension of around 3000 m². The Hommaru (like the other areas) was protected by earth walls. On the northwest corner was the two-story Osumi watchtower ( 御 角 櫓 ) and on the southeast corner the Watari watchtower ( 渡 櫓 ). In the second part of the castle there was a racecourse and a granary protected by earth cover. There was also a watchtower at the southeast corner of this area. The main gate ( 大 手 門 , Ōte-mon ; H) was on the east side of the Ni-no-maru. The three entrances from the third area to the actual castle were protected by ramparts and moats, so-called "horse runs" ( 馬 出 , uma-dashi ). Especially the area in front of the northern entrance, the outer bailey "Sieben-Speicher" ( 七 ツ 蔵 ; Nanatsu kura ; N), was heavily fortified. In the south of the Ni-no-maru there was a trench in the form of an elongated pond, the "Hundred-ken-Trench" ( 百 閒 濠 , Hyakken-bori ).
From the rift system around the San-no-maru you can see a pond-like bulge in the northeast, the Tame-ike ( 溜 池 ; T).
At the beginning of the Meiji period, the castle was largely demolished. Part of the Hom- and Ni-no-maru is now an urban park, although part of the inner moat has been preserved. There is also a shrine, the Shōnai Shrine ( 庄内 神社 , ~ -jinja ). In the third castle area, the Han school of the Sakai, the Chidōkan ( 至道 館 ) and the garden of the Sakai ( 酒井 氏 庭園 , Sakai-shi teien ) have been preserved.
Remarks
- ↑ Ein ken ( 間 ) was 1.81 m long.
literature
- Mizoguchi, Akihiro: Tsurugaoka-jo in: Miura, Masayuki (ed.): Shiro to jinya. Tokoku-hen. Gakken, 2006. ISBN 978-4-05-604378-5 , p. 36.
