is a
castle' were fortresses composed primarily of wood and stone. They evolved from the wooden stockades of earlier centuries, and came into their best-known form in the 16th century...
in
Nagaokakyōis a city located in Kyoto, Japan.As of 2008, the city has an estimated population of 79,306 and the density of 4,070.96 persons per km². The total area is 19.18 km²....
,
Kyotois a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of the island of Honshu. The capital is the city of Kyoto.- History :Until the Meiji Restoration, the area of Kyoto prefecture was known as Yamashiro....
,
JapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
History
This castle was constructed in 1339 by Hosokawa Yoriharu, a major
samuraiis the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
commander under
Ashikaga Takaujiwas the founder and first shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate. His rule began in 1338, beginning the Muromachi period of Japan, and ended with his death in 1358...
, the founder of the
Ashikaga shogunateThe , also known as the , was a Japanese feudal military regime, ruled by the shoguns of the Ashikaga clan.This period is also known as the Muromachi period and gets its name from Muromachi Street of Kyoto where the third shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu established his residence...
.
The area around the castle is a strategic foothold to defend Kyoto, the capital of Japan at that time, from western threats. During the
Ōnin WarThe ' was a civil war that lasted 10 years during the Muromachi period in Japan. A dispute between Hosokawa Katsumoto and Yamana Sōzen escalated into a nationwide war involving the Ashikaga shogunate and a number of daimyo in many regions of Japan....
, this castle was used as a castle of the western alliance and became occupied by
Iwanari Tomomichiwas a Japanese samurai of the 16th century. Also known as Ishinari Tomomichi , he was a retainer of the Miyoshi clan, and held the title of Chikara-no-suke...
, a
daimyōis a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...
of the
Miyoshi clanThe Miyoshi clan is a Japanese family descended from Emperor Seiwa and the Minamoto clan . They were a cadet branch of the Ogasawara clan and the Takeda clan....
, during the
Sengoku periodThe or Warring States period in Japanese history was a time of social upheaval, political intrigue, and nearly constant military conflict that lasted roughly from the middle of the 15th century to the beginning of the 17th century. The name "Sengoku" was adopted by Japanese historians in reference...
. The castle fell to
Oda Nobunagawas the initiator of the unification of Japan under the shogunate in the late 16th century, which ruled Japan until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was also a major daimyo during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. His opus was continued, completed and finalized by his successors Toyotomi...
in 1568, and was given to
Hosokawa Tadaokiwas the eldest son of Hosokawa Fujitaka. He fought in his first battle at the age of 15. In that battle, he was in the service of Oda Nobunaga. He was given the Province of Tango in 1580. Soon after that, he married Hosokawa Gracia, the daughter of Akechi Mitsuhide. In 1582, Akechi Mitsuhide...
, who occupied it until 1579. At the
battle of YamazakiThe was fought in 1582 in Yamazaki, Japan, located in current day Kyoto Prefecture. This battle is sometimes referred to as the Battle of Mt. Tennō ....
between
Toyotomi Hideyoshiwas a daimyo warrior, general and politician of the Sengoku period. He unified the political factions of Japan. He succeeded his former liege lord, Oda Nobunaga, and brought an end to the Sengoku period. The period of his rule is often called the Momoyama period, named after Hideyoshi's castle...
and
Akechi Mitsuhide, nicknamed Jūbei or called from his clan name and title, was a samurai who lived during the Sengoku period of Feudal Japan.Mitsuhide was a general under daimyo Oda Nobunaga, although he became infamous for his betrayal in 1582, which led to Nobunaga's death at Honno-ji...
, about one week after Mitsuhide killed Nobunaga, this castle was used as Mitsuhide’s headquarters.