Sengoku Clay History: Tell the strange anecdotes and historical stories of Japan's Sengoku period!
An important defensive fortress in Edo (Tokyo)!
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Japan's 100 Daimyo Castle No.19: Kawagoe Castle</h1>
Kawagoe Castle Honmaru Goten (part of an 1848 building)
Kawagoe Castle
Kawagoe Castle is located in the former Musashi Kingdom and is today the remains of the Japanese Sengoku Castle in Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture. During the Edo period, it was established as the Kawagoe Domain and was the seat of the clan hall. One of the Seven Castles of Kanto and the Nineteenth Of the 19th Hundred Famous Castles of Japan.
Kawagoe Castle, also known as Chuyan City and Wuyin City, was called "Kawagoe Castle" in the past, and only in modern times did "Kawagoe Castle" be established as an official name.
It is a castle located northeast of the Musashino Terrace, and Kawagoe Castle used to be a large area, from the current Hatsune Park to the Kawagoe City Government, most of which are now lost.
Kawagoe Castle
Ninomaru traces include the Kawagoe City Museum and the Kawagoe City Museum of Art.
The entrance to the Takushi Wheel Gate and Fujimichi
The Traces of Sannomaru include Saitama Prefectural Kawagoe High School, and the southern side of the high school also leaves the remains of the "Fujimi-Aki" (Saitama Prefecture Designated Historical Site) on the small high hill, and the Misaki Shrine and Theama Shrine are built on the top of the mountain. Kawagoe Castle has no castle keep, and like the Kiyoki Terrace in Utsunomiya Castle, the highest three-story Fujimichi bridge in the city replaces the castle keep.
It was remodeled from the Middle Ages to modern times, and the scale has changed a lot. During the feudal period, sakai Tadatsukatsu, Matsudaira Nobutsu, Yanagisawa Yoshiho and other clan lords held important positions in the shogunate, and the number of senior officials in the shogunate reached 7, making it one of the largest clans in the country, and until the middle of the Edo period, it was the "old middle castle", and after the middle of Edo, it was a shogunate pro-domain.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > the history of Kawagoe Castle</h1>
Muromachi period ——
The Muromachi shogunate once established Kamakura Prefecture in order to strengthen its control over the Kanto region. However, over time, Kamakura Became more independent, and the relationship between the Muromachi shogunate and the Kanto governor became increasingly sinister.
1454 (3rd year of heytoku), 5th generation Ashikaga Gongfu · Ashikaga Narita murdered the Kanto governor Kendada Uesugi, and the Hemitoku Rebellion broke out. During the expedition led by Ashikaga Narita, the base camp Kamakura was reinforced by the Uesugi family · Now that Imakawa was occupied, the homeless Ashikaga Clan abandoned Kamakura and established a new stronghold in Furukawa, known as the "Furukawa Gongfang", in shimo-kuni, beginning a scuffle with the Uesugi clan over kanto.
The eastern Musashi clan was at the forefront of the battle against the Furukawa Castles: Ninja Castle, Furukawa Castle, and Sekisu Castle, and the Uesugi clan was anxious to establish a bridgehead against the forces of the Furukawa Gongfang.
Ota Dokan
In 1457 (the first year of the Yuan Dynasty), Ota Michimasa and Ota Michiko, the vassals of the Ogaya Uesugi family, established Kawagoe Castle (Kawagoe Castle); Uesugi established Edo Castle near the border of Shimōguni, and the two castles used the military road Kawagoe Subdistrict link to rival the Furukawa Clan.
Located on the hills on the north side of the Musashino Terrace, Kawagoe Castle is a natural highland that monitors the low-lying areas on the east side. The Akama, Izuma, and Echibe rivers in the north of the castle, and the Yuno River and wetlands in the south are the castle's natural outer moats.
An analysis of the various defensive facilities of medieval Japanese castles
(1) Vertical Shapa; (2) Earthworks: Doken High Ground; (3) Continuous Pit: Wavy Shabo;
(4) Hori cut: artificially excavate the deep trench slope where the curved wheel is connected with other facilities;
(5) Hatobori: the design of the city defense designed alternately between earthen barricades and slopes, forcing the enemy to abandon the climb and take other roads that are easy to be attacked;
(6) Barrier Hori: Traps, obstacles, etc. are designed in the deep ditch;
(7) Fir-shaped tiger mouth: the rectangular lowland area near the city gate, where the enemy will accumulate and be attacked, which is the most dangerous link in siege warfare;
(8) Pinghukou: The narrow city defense design near the city gate, such as the width of the bridge deck, forces the enemy to accumulate here, and reduces the actual offensive pressure in front of the city gate;
(9) Horse out: a small protruding fortress established separately, attacking the enemy army internally and attracting firepower externally;
(10) Earthen bridges and wooden bridges: After they are destroyed, a situation that cannot be passed is formed;
(11) Qu Shu: in fact, it is the area and scope that are set out by the city defense; (12) The platform: the highland where the bridge (arrow tower) and the castle tower are built;
The Ota Michigan's method of castle building has its own characteristics, and it is a typical continuous-contour castle construction method, in which the sub-castle, the middle castle, and the outer castle all exist independently, and there are two (about 3.6 meters) high earthen forts on the periphery.
Turn (stagger) the Hukou Gate
There are moats flowing in the middle between each curved wheel, there are bridges between each other, and the bridge connects the entrance position, there are earth bridges, diversion bridges, staggered tiger mouths, etc. The main design purpose is to force the enemy to disperse and advance, advance without cover, turn back and turn forward, so that the defenders have enough time to shoot. (So tower defense type games, ancient Japan also played very well)
Kawagoe Castle originally covered an area of more than 50,000 tsubo, was designed with 8 gates and 8 oshi (arrow towers), and according to the "New Musashi Terroir", the 20-meter-high Fujimichi Bridge on the southwest side of the Honmaru is said to have been built by Ota Michikan.
Miyoshino Shrine in the castle
In fact, Kawagoe Castle (Kawagoe Castle) has two theories: "Ota Michijin Construction" and "Ota Road Irrigation Construction", and after the castle was repaired, Ota Michijin Yashiki was built in the west of the castle, and Yashiki was built in the northwest by Ota Michijin. The Sanyono Shrine was also built in the castle.
Ota Michikusa was committed to ending the Hemitoku Rebellion, and in 1482 (14th year of civilization), the Muromachi shogunate made peace with the Furukawa clan, but Uesugi, the governor of the Ogaya Uesugi clan, assassinated him for fear that Ota Michizuki's reputation would be too great.
Since then, the Ota family has broken with the Uesugi family of Ogaya, and then the Yamauchi Uesugi family and the Uesugi family have fallen into discord, and the Furukawa public government has also intervened in the civil unrest of the Uesugi family, and the end of the Hemitoku Rebellion seems to be far away.
Warring States Period——
Hojo Morning Cloud
During the Period of The Great Rebellion, Hojo Hayun, who worked at the Imakawa family in Suruga Kingdom, took advantage of the chaos in the Kanto region and quickly dominated the Sagami Kingdom, starting with the Izu Kingdom, and used it as a base camp.
In 1518, Hojo Hayafune handed over the status of governor to his son. Hojo clan;
In 1524, the Hojo family took Edo Castle into their own hands, and the following year they occupied Iwatsuki Castle, and their forces entered Musashi. Uesugi Asahi retreated to Kawagoe Castle (Kawagoe Castle) and Fern Castle;
In 1537, Uesugi Asahi died, and Uesugi Asahi became the governor of the house. Hojo Tsusunari seized the opportunity to launch a major attack and capture Kawagoe Castle (Kawagoe Castle), thus ruling the Musashi Kingdom; Uesugi Asahi once again retreated to Matsuyama Castle, and the Hojo family deployed elite troops such as the Daichiji clan known as Kawagoe Castle (Kawagoe Castle) at Kawagoe Castle(Kawagoe Castle);
Hojo Jiyasu
In 1541, the Hojo clan died, and the shogun passed to the Hojo clan Yasushi; Uesugi Asumi of the Uesugi clan of Ogaya, Uesugi Kensei of the Yamauchi Uesugi family, and Ashikaga Haruhi clan of the Furukawa clan joined forces to prepare to retake Kawagoe Castle (Kawagoe Castle);
Jihman Hachiman · Hojo Tsurugi
In 1545, an allied army of 80,000 men besieged Kawagoe Castle (Kawagoe Castle), and then contacted imagawa Yoshimoto and Takeda Shingen to exert pressure on the Hojo clan, while the famous hojo general Hojo Tsunari resolutely defended the castle;
In 1546, in the famous Battle of Kawagoe Night, the Hojo family repelled the allied forces and won the victory and dominated Musashi Kingdom;
Uesugi Uesugi family of Ogaya died in battle, Uesugi Uesugi died in battle, Uesugi Uesugi clan of Ogaya died in battle, Uesugi Uesugi family of Ogaya died;
Furukawa Gongfang Ashikaga Yoshiharu returned to Furukawa Castle;
・Yamauchi Uesugi family Uesugi Kensei abandoned the Musashi Kingdom and fled to the Echigo Kingdom to defect to Nagao Keisho, who then inherited the Yamauchi Uesugi clan and the Kanto clan and changed his name to Uesugi Kenshin.
Hojo Family Shigeomi · Masashige Daidoji
・Daido-ji Masahiro was added to Kawagoe Castle, adding Sanomaru and Hachimanko to strengthen the defense against the West;
Azuchi Momoyama Period——
In 1590, Toyotomi Hideyoshi launched the "Odawara Expedition", and Kawagoe Castle (Kawagoe Castle), the lord of Kawagoe Castle (Kawagoe Castle), Masamune Terasaki, left the castle to meet the Toyotomi army at Ueno Domain, but was unable to surrender, and the Maeda Toshiya clan settled in Kawagoe Castle (Kawagoe Castle);
Tokugawa Ieyasu was transferred to the Eight Prefectures of Kanto, and the Tokugawa family lineage was replaced by a major minister · Sakai Shigeta became the lord of Kawagoe Castle (Kawagoe Castle), receiving the title of 10,000 stones and establishing the domain of Kawagoe Domain
Edo period ——
The largest lord of the Kawagoe Domain was the later Echizen Matsudaira clan, who was enfeoffed with 170,000 stones. During the Edo period, the seat of the Kawagoe Domain was Kawagoe Castle, which formed a very prosperous castle town, known as "Little Edo". It is the industrial, agricultural, and trade center of Musashi Province, where various commodities are gathered, and many materials are transported to Edo Castle through the Shin-Kawakawa River;
The former military road, Kawagoe Street, became a highway for the lord of the clan to go to Edo to "attend the work" and also took on the responsibility of separating the Kawagoe domain · Function of Ueno Kuni Maebashi Castle Connection;
In 1653, the Matsudaira family of Hanoi · Matsudaira Izu Shounobu initiated the major renovation of Kawagoe Castle, which was not completed until the Kanei period. The size of the castle was doubled and became a modern castle. Counting the water canal moat and so on, it covers a total area of 98,000 square meters, about 326,000 square meters! Instead of the "Fujimi Yaki" of the castle tower, the pedestal (51 feet) and the yaki (51 feet) have a total height of 30.8 meters!
Echizen Matsudaira family in 1848 · Matsudaira Kiyonori built the Honmaru Goten, replacing the goten destroyed by fire;
Modern and modern——
In 1868 (the first year of Meiji), Matsui Matsudaira Yasuei buried the moat in order to show his deference to the Meiji government.
In 1869 (Meiji 2), the Kawagoe clan submitted an application to the new government to demolish the aging buildings of Kawagoe Castle, and began to partially demolish the castle.
In 1873 (Meiji 6), with the abolition of the castle order, tenders were offered and sold for useless and damaged buildings in Kawagoe Castle.
In 1924 (Taisho 13), the ruins of Kawagoe Castle were designated as the designated historical sites of Saitama Prefecture.
In 1967 (Showa 42), Honmaru Goten was designated as a prefectural designated tangible cultural property.
In 1989 (the first year of Heisei), the concept of restoring the main part of Kawagoe Castle and expanding the castle site park (Hatsugan Park Plan) was formulated. Plans that were later frustrated by the collapse of the bubble economy were also not announced.
On April 6, 2006, it was selected as one of japan's 100 castles (No. 19).
In 2017 (Heisei 29), the basic concept of the construction of Hatsuyan Park 28 years ago was scaled down and restarted. It was announced that it will relocate Hatsuyan Stadium and expand the city site park.
It is worth mentioning that many of the areas of Kawagoe Castle in the past have been urban areas and urban areas. But in the picture at the beginning of the article (Honmaru Goten), part of it is an original building! There are only two existing Hondamaru Goten Hiroma in Japan, one is Kawagoe Castle in this article, and the other is Kochi Castle, which is a very important historical site.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Kawagoe Castle Palace</h1>
Built in 1848 (the first year of Kayaga), the Honmaru Goden is a 170,000-stone building of the Matsudaira Kidan, with a luxurious Tang Dynasty windbreaking and fog removal, and a large entrance gate with a length of 34.2 meters (19 rooms) and a depth of 9 meters (5 rooms).
The Ōhiro-ma room has an area of 58.32 square meters (36 stacks), with a board room separating the Ōhiro-ma room from the entrance, a patio and a living room with a depth of 5.4 meters (3 rooms), surrounded by a 9-foot corridor. The construction area reaches 545.44 square meters (165 ping).
At that time, there were 16 buildings with a total construction area of 3388.34 square meters (1025 ping). After entering Meiji, many buildings were demolished due to the destruction of the castle, and now the only buildings left are the entrance hall, the hall part and the old office.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > the seven incredibles of Kawagoe Castle!? </h1>
Japan... There are always all kinds of urban legends, but they are always summarized as "seven incredibles", and this inexplicable stubbornness is also very magical! Let's take a look at the legendary "Seven Incredibles of Kawagoe Castle"!
【First Wild Goose Cedar】 (Hatsugan Sugi)
The Sanyano Shrine in the castle has the "First Goose Cedar". At the same time of the year, the first geese fly from the north, make three chirps three times directly above the fir trees, and then begin to fly south.
At a banquet held by Ota Michigan to celebrate the construction of Kawagoe Castle, Hatsuyan also came, hence the name "Hatsuyoshi Castle". This is the origin of the nickname Kawagoe Castle, the third generation of hatsuyoshi cedar behind the shrine shrine.
【Mist blowing well】 (Kaikaikai Iguchi)
Legend has it that there is a well in the city called "The Well of Fog Blowing", which is usually covered with a lid, and once the lid is opened in a critical moment, the fog in the well will cover the city. This is the origin of Kawagoe Castle's other alias, "Mist Hidden City".
But now the well has been relocated and is located in the forecourt of the Municipal Museum.
[Personal offering] (Human Pillars)
Kawagoe Castle was originally built in a wetland known as the "Seven Kettles", and the Ota Michiko father and son could not build the castle's earthen fortress under any circumstances. One night, the Dragon God of the Lord of the Swamp appeared in Daozhen's dream and said:
"Tomorrow morning, if you give me the first person who appeared next to you as a pillar of man, the city will be successful."
The first to appear the next morning was Michijin's daughter Sejin (よね姫). In fact, my daughter had the same dream. The princess threw herself into the swamp to pray for the completion of the castle, dedicated to the dragon god, so that the castle was finally built.
How does it feel so close to the story of Shi Bang Sakura?
【Tenjin Senzoku no Insui】 (Tenjin-like bpod water)
In order to build a canal for the castle, Ota Michigan could not find a water source, and once unexpectedly saw an old man washing his feet with water taken from the depths of the ground, and quickly asked the old man for help.
Under the leadership of this old man, Ota Michikan finally found a water source, and the place where the old man washed his feet was now the Sanfangye Shrine. Now a well has been built in the shrine because Ota Michizuki believes that this old man is the embodiment of the god Sanfango and has come to guide himself. And this clean water is called the well water of the gods to wash their feet, which is very precious.
[One Leaf Reed] (Ikōkō)
Once upon a time, the area around Umishima Inari Shrine was a wetland known as the "Seven Kettles", a place near Kawagoe Castle where it was once impossible to build an earthen fortress.
Once the castle was attacked by the enemy, and in the darkness of the night, the princess and the nursing mother fled from the city to the seven kettles, and in danger, the princess fell into the swamp. She tried desperately to climb the reeds out of the swamp, but the reed leaves were torn to shreds, and the princess grabbed one of the reed leaves and sank to the bottom.
So the reeds near Kawagoe Castle, due to the princess's resentment, all the leaves are single-leafed.
[Pebble memorial service of Yujogawa] (Stoned voice answer)
In the nearby village of Fangye, there is a woman named "およね", who is a very beautiful girl.
The lord of the city once came to the village as a retinue of the lord of the city, Hawkkai, and fell in love with the lord at first sight, and married the lord of the city back home as a wife. However, because he married into a samurai family and had a low status, he was severely treated by his mother-in-law, so he committed suicide by throwing himself into the river.
The husband went to the river every day and kept shouting his wife's name "およね". That's because whenever the husband calls, there is a reply from the bottom of the river, and finally, the husband who has lost his soul is also attracted to the river and throws himself into the river.
Now it is said that throwing stones into the river will have a similar answer.
[Sound of jochu hoof] (Hoof voice in the castle)
This is a story about the lord of the city · The incredible story that happened to Sakai Shigetada.
When Sakai Shigetada was the lord of Kawagoe Castle, he would hear arrows roaring every night, people shouting horses, and the sound of horses' hooves, and he couldn't sleep at all, and even if he fell asleep, he would be awakened by these sounds.
In the end, it can only be measured by divination, and Mr. Gua Gua said that somewhere in the city, there is a painting depicting the war, which is the culprit of this incident.
The lord of the city immediately ordered the whole city to investigate, and finally in the treasure vault, a pair of screens were found depicting the Battle of Horikawa Night Attack. It is said that when he donated the screen to the nursing home, the sounds disappeared from that night.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Japan's top 100 cities and jump list</h1>
Japan's Top 100 Castles is a number of foundations formed by the Nihon Castles Association, and in 2006 designated 100 castles of great value.
【Hokkaido】Nemuro Peninsula Ruins Group · Goryokaku · Matsumae Castle
【Kohoku District】Hirosaki Castle · Nejo · Shangyuan Castle · Taki Castle · Sendai Castle · Kubota Castle · Yamagata Castle · Nihonmatsu Castle · Wakamatsu Castle · Shirakawa Komine Castle
【Kanto Area】Mito Castle · Ashikaga Clan Pavilion · Minowa Castle · Jinshan City Bowl Castle · Kawagoe Castle Sakura Castle · Edo Castle Hachioji Castle · Odawara Castle
【Koshinetsu】Mr. Takeda · Kofu Castle · Matsushiro Castle · Ueda Castle · Xiaocheng · Matsumoto Castle · Takayi Castle · Xinyoda Castle · Kasugayama Castle
【Hokuriku Area】Takaoka Castle · Nanao Castle Kanazawa Castle · Maruoka Castle One by one valley city
Iwamura Castle · Gifu Castle · Yamanaka Castle · Xiaofu Castle · Hijikawa Castle · Inuyama Castle · Nagoya Castle · Kozaki Castle · Shiro · Ita Ueno Castle · Matsuzaka Castle
【Kinki Area】Odani Castle · Hikone Castle · Azuchi Castle · Enonji Castle · Nijo Castle · Osaka Castle · Chihaya Castle · Takeda Castle · Sasayama Castle · Akashi Castle · Ying road Castle · Red Skull Castle · Takatori Castle · Wakayama Castle
【China District】Hattori Castle · Matsue Castle · Tsukiyama Tomida Castle · Tsuwano Castle · Tsuyama Castle · Makinaka Matsuyama Castle · Onino castle · Hiruzen Castle · Fukuyama Castle · Yoshida-Koriyama Castle · Yingcheng · Iwakuni Castle · Hagi Castle
【Shikoku Area】Tokushima Castle · Takamatsu Castle Maru Kame castle · Imabari Castle · Tang Zhucheng · Matsuyama Castle Ozu City · Uwajima Castle · Kochi Castle
【Kyushu Area】Fukuoka Castle · Ohno Castle · Nagoya Castle · Ruins of Yoshino-ri · Saga Castle · Hirado Castle Shimabara Castle · Kumamoto Castle Renji Castle · OitaFu Inner Castle · Okaseong · FeiCheng · Kagoshima Castle
【Okinawa Area】Nakijin Castle · Midtown City Shurijo Castle