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During the Tokugawa era, samurai increasingly became courtiers, bureaucrats, and administrators rather than warriors. With no warfare since the early 17th century, samurai gradually lost their military function during the Tokugawa era (also called the Edo period).
By the end of the Tokugawa era, samurai were aristocratic bureaucrats for the daimyo, with their daisho, the paired long and short swords of the samurai (cf. katana and wakizashi) becoming more of a symbolic emblem of power rather than a weapon used in daily life.
They still had the legal right to cut down any commoner who did not show proper respect (kiri sute gomen (斬り捨て御免)), but to what extent this right was used is unknown. When the central government forced daimyos to cut the size of their armies, unemployed ronin became a social problem.
Theoretical obligations between a samurai and his lord (usually a daimyo) increased from the Genpei era to the Edo era. They were strongly emphasized by the teachings of Confucius and Mencius (ca 550 B.C.) which were required reading for the educated samurai class. Bushido was formalized by several influential leaders and families before the Edo Period. Bushido was an ideal, and it remained fairly uniform from the 13th century to the 19th century — the ideals of Bushido transcended social class, time and geographic location of the warrior class.
Bushido was formalized by samurai such as Imagawa Ryoshun as early as the 13th century. The conduct of samurai served as role model behavior for the other social classes. With time on their hands, samurai spent more time in pursuit of other interests such as becoming scholars.
Bushido still survives in present-day Japanese society, as do many other aspects of the samurai's way of life.
Armor (Gusoku)
Lacquered iron, mail, silk, gilt copper
Inscribed by Yukinoshita Sadaiyé
Edo period, 17th century
The helmet is mounted with the crest of the Daté family, daimyo of Sendai.
Rogers Fund, 1904
04.4.9
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Armor (Yoroi)
Lacquered iron and leather, silk, stenciled leather, mail
Edo period, 18th century
During the eighteenth century, there was a revival of interest in medieval Japanese culture. As the demand for classical styles of armor began to increase among the wealthy lords, contemporary armorers studied the older forms of construction and techniques of manufacture in order to duplicate them. This example imitates a yoroi of the twelfth to thirteenth century. It is characterized by a helmet with prominent rivet heads and a wide, flaring neck guard and by a cuirass and a separate panel closing the right side, large square shoulder guards, and a deep four-sided skirt.
Bequest of George C. Stone, 1935
36.25.39
Tokyo Jidai-matsuri (Tokyo Historical Parade) [November 3, Culture Day]
Tokyo Jidai-matsuri is an historical parade that recreates Tokyo's history and culture. It was first held on November 3, 1999 as part of the event called Tokyo Renaissance, in an attempt to publicize Asakusa's unique presence as the historical and cultural center of the international city of Tokyo as it moves into the 21st century.
Tokyo Jidai-matsuri Parade Program
Theme: "Dawning of Tokyo as the Capital of Peace"
Procession led by floats featuring children performers of Edo festival music --> Tokyo Jidai-matsuri banner Tegomai dance company --> Magistrate --> "Emergence of the Asakusa Kannon, the Dawning of Tokyo" --> Kinryu-no-mai dance "Joy of Asakusa" --> "Ariwara Narihira Going East" --> "Minamoto Yoritomo Camping at Sumida River" --> "Hojo Masako"
Worshipping at Sensoji Temple
Theme: Chic: Outshining the 300-year-old Aoi-matsuri Festival
Sanja Daigongen Festive Procession of floats --> Second banner --> Magistrate --> "Dokan Ota, founder of Edo" --> "Ieyasu Tokugawa's Arrival in Edo" --> "Construction of Edo Castle and Hauling Stones" --> Court Ladies --> "Iemitsu Tokugawa Donated Reconstruction of Sanja-gongen Shrine" --> Procession of Daimyo transferring to Edo
Theme: The Blooming Edo Culture as a Stage of Dreams
Cherry Blossoming Dance from the Genroku Period --> "Raid by Loyal Retainers" --> "Ooka Echizen no Kami and Edo Firemen" --> Yoshiwara Courtesans --> Shichi-fukujin-no-mai by Asakusa Ichimura-za --> aruwaka-sanza Edo Kabuki --> Popular Figures in Edo --> Edo Geisha --> Second Banner --> Magistrate -->
Fifteenth Shogun Yoshinobu Tokugawa
Theme: Splendor: Dynamic Trends From Edo to Tokyo
From Edo to Tokyo --> "Cultural Flowering at Rokumeikan" --> "Scenes from Asakusa Okuyama" --> Nostalgic Asakusa Revue
The parade leaves the square behind Sensoji Temple at 1:30 p.m. and proceeds along Umamichi-dori from Nitenmon Gate, in front of Asakusa Matsuya Department Store, along Kaminarimon-dori, to Kaminarimon Gate and ends in Asakusa Tawaramachi at 3:30 p.m.
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roppongi
Roppongi (六本木, roppongi) est un district de l'arrondissement de Minato de la ville de Tōkyō, au Japon. Il est connu par sa vie nocturne et la présence de touristes étrangers et expatriés, bien que la majorité des visiteurs soient japonais.
Il est situé dans la portion sud du cercle décrit par la ligne circulaire Yamanote, au sud d'Akasaka et au nord de Azabu (en).
Le nom « Roppongi » signifie « six arbres ». Une légende dit que ce nom vient du fait que six daimyo ont vécu dans les environs pendant la période Edo, chacun avec un caractère kanji d'« arbre » ou bien une sorte d'« arbre » dans leur nom.
Roppongi était un croisement de deux rues jusqu'après l'ère Meiji, quand c'est devenu un secteur des divisions pour l'armée japonaise impériale. Après la deuxième guerre mondiale, l'armée des États-Unis s'y est installée, donnant à Roppongi la réputation d'être un quartier d'étrangers. Plusieurs installations militaires importantes des États-Unis ont été installées dans ce secteur, les plus significatives étant les Hardy Barracks. Le secteur s'est aussitôt peuplé de magasins de style occidental, de bars, de restaurants, de maisons de prostitution et de bar à hôtesses ; cela est dû, en grande partie, à la présence militaire des États-Unis.
Roppongi faisait partie administrativement d'Azabu de 1878 à 1947.
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Vue prise de la Mori Tower.
Tokyo Tower ou Tour de Tokyo
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_de_T%c5%8dky%c5%8d
La tour de Tōkyō (japonais : 東京タワー, Tōkyō tawā ; anglais : Tokyo Tower) est une tour rouge et blanche située dans l'arrondissement de Minato à Tōkyō au Japon dont le concept est fondé sur celui de la tour Eiffel de Paris en France.
La tour fait 332,6 mètres de haut (soit 8,6 mètres de plus que la tour Eiffel, qui en mesure 324 avec son antenne) ce qui en fait l'une des plus hautes tours en métal du monde. La tour ne pèse que 4000 tonnes, ce qui est bien moins que les 7300 de la tour Eiffel et a été ouverte au public en 1958.
176 ampoules réparties à différents endroits éclairent la tour. L'hiver, elle est illuminée en orange et l'été en blanc. 14 signaux sont transmis depuis le sommet de la tour : 9 de la télévision et 5 de la radio FM.
Le Temple Zōjō-ji se trouve non loin de celle-ci.
Elle sera prochainement remplacée par une tour deux fois plus haute, construite dans le quartier de Sumida.
The garden of the New Otani Hotel in Tokyo stands on the property that was once the primary yashiki (estate) of the great Sengoku period feudal lord, Katō Kiyomasa (1562-1611). Kiyomasa was a trusted retainer and general of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the warlord who unified Japan in the wake of Oda Nobunaga’s assassination in 1582. Kiyomasa rose to fame during the battle of Shizugatake and soon found himself at the vanguard of many of Hideyoshi’s campaigns, including the invasion of Korea in 1592, in which Kiyomasa’s reputation as a master tactician, fierce fighter, castle builder and as a cruel man grew. To this day, the mere mention of Kiyomasa’s name in Korea is sure to bring a frown. Although loyal to the Toyotomi, if there was one thing that Kiyomasa hated more than Christianity and poor martial spirit among the samurai, it was Ishida Mitsunari, leader of the Western coalition of daimyo that opposed the rise of Tokugawa Ieyasu. It was this hatred of Mitsunari that drove Kiyomasa into the Tokugawa camp where he played a pivotal role in the Kyushu theatre of the Sekigahara campaign in 1600. As a result of his service, Kiyomasa was rewarded by becoming one of the elite daimyo who were allowed to build his Edo estate near the shogun’s castle in the upscale area that became known as Kioi-cho, named after the elite Kii Tokugawa, Owari Tokugawa and Ii daimyo families that kept their residences in this area.
As Kiyomasa was loyal to the house of Toyotomi and as a final showdown between the Tokugawa and Toyotomi grew, the Tokugawa began to have their doubts about where Kiyomasa’s ultimate loyalty rested. Fearful of having to face this fierce and influential warlord on the opposing side of the battlefield when the fighting would inevitably erupt in 1615, it has been suggested that the Tokugawa had him poisoned. Shortly after the fall of the Toyotomi, Kiyomasa’s son was accused of disloyalty (most likely a trumped up charge) and the family’s fief in Kumamoto, Kyushu was seized by the shogunate and the clan was abolished. Soon after this, the grounds of the Katō estate in Tokyo were given to the Ii family.
When the New Otani Hotel was constructed, it was decided to keep the traditional Japanese garden intact. Today the garden covers more than 10 acres and has over 800 trees, 10,000 flowering plants, ponds, a waterfall, and 42 stone lanterns, many of which date back from the Edo (1603-1868) and the Kamakura (1192-1333) periods.
Participant dressed as a daimyo feudal lord at the Otaki-jo Samurai Festival in Otaki, Chiba Prefecture.
Sakana-chō (肴町) in Koga City, was a part of the town where daimyo traveling along the Nikkō Kaidō were greeted by high ranking domain officials. Old buildings and reminders of the Edo period can still be found in this area.
Koga City, in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, has a history that dates back to ancient Jomon times and was even mentioned in the Man’yōshu anthology of poems that was compiled in the AD 800s. During the Muromachi period, Koga became the base for the Kantō branch of Ashikaga under the leadership of Shigeuji, who led a rebellion against the Ashikaga shogunate.
During the Edo period (1603-1868), the fief of Koga was ruled by many hereditary daimyo whose families had pledged loyalty to Tokugawa Ieyasu prior to the battle of Sekigahara in 1600. The families that ruled Koga included the Ogasawara, various branches of the Matsudaira, Okudaira, Nagai, Honda and Doi. Perhaps Doi Toshikatsu, who became tairō (chief elder of the council of elders - rōjū) during the reign of Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu, was the most famous ruler of Koga.
Another famous ruler of Koga was Doi Toshitsura (1789-1848), who is sometimes called the “The Snow Lord”. Apart from being a key advisor to the Tokugawa shogunate, he was the first person in Japan to seriously study the designs of snowflakes. He illustrated his findings in a book Sekka Zusetsu (Pictorial Illustrations of Snowflakes) and some of the patterns became popular for clothing and decorative purposes.
Today, there is nothing left of the Edo period Koga castle, but numerous old temples, shrines, samurai and farmer homes remain. Unfortunately, many of these buildings suffered damage during the magnitude 9.0 earthquake that struck northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011 and repairs were ongoing when I visited.
Expo Daimyo, seigneurs de la guerre au Japon, musée Guimet (MNAAG), Paris 75, Ile-de-France.
Gantelet (tekkō 手甲), armure du clan Hachisuka.
Cette armure aurait appartenue à Hachisuka Munekazu (蜂須賀 宗員), daimyo 大名 (seigneur féodal), au Japon durant l'ère Edo.
Hachisuka Munekazu portait le titre (国司, kokushi) : Awa no Kami.
Armure du 17ème siècle, composée de fer, laque, bois, soie, cuir.
Le mon (紋, blason familial) est une svastika.
Plus d'informations sur la famille Hachisuka : fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan_Hachisuka
Le clan Hachisuka dirigeait le domaine de Tokushima (徳島藩 Tokushima-han), province d'Awa (阿波国 Awa-no kuni), maintenant appelée préfecture de Tokushima (徳島県 Tokushima-ken), Japon.
The Ikeda-ya was the site of the most famous incident of the Shinsengumi era. It is now nothing more than a stone marker in front of a pachinko parlor.
The Ikeda-ya Jiken (June 5, 1864) took place at the ryokan of the same name along Sanjo-dori in Kyoto. It was used by Choshu loyalists while planning an attack on Aizu daimyo, Matsudaira Katamori. One of the Choshu men, a ronin from Omi by the name of Shuntaro Furutaka (see previous photos for more info on him), was captured and interrogated by Shinsengumi after his shop was raided. In the raid, they found weapons and incriminating documents.
One the eve of the Gion Festival, a group of nine Shinsengumi including Kondo Isami and three of his best swordsmen, raided the Ikeda-ya. They immediately found weapons and disposed of them while five members surrounded the entrance to prevent escape. The memoirs of Shinsengumi member Nagakura Shinpachi states that everyone inside the Ikeda-ya "trembled with fear." One man stepped forward and was promptly killed by Okita Soji who was suffering from severe tuberculosis. According to Kondo Isami's letters, the fighting around the Ikeda-ya raged for hours. Seven rebels were dead, four fatally wounded, and 23 arrested--several more committed seppuku. The proprietor was imprisoned and tortured to death.
While the Shinsengumi had not suffered major losses, the damage done at the Ikeda-ya was great, further adding to their legacy. Nagakura's memoir tells of the carnage:
Not one of the paper screen doors was left intact, all having been smashed to pieces. The wooden boards of the ceiling were also torn apart when men who had been hiding above the boards were stabbed with spears from below. The tatami mats in a number of rooms were spotted with blood. Particularly pitiful were the arms and feet, and pieces of facial skin with the hair still attached scattered about (Hillsborough 81).
Taken inside the daimyo's palace at Kakegawa Castle.
Kakegawa Castle, strategically located along the old Tōkaidō Road in Shizuoka prefecture, is in the heart of one of Japan’s best tea cultivation centers. The peaceful atmosphere that prevails through the area wasn’t always so. Shizuoka prefecture used to be formally a part of Tōtōmi province, in a region known as the Enshū area, which was hotly contested by various warlords during Japan’s Sengoku warring states period that lasted from roughly 1477-1600. The first castle on the site of the present Kakegawa-jō was built in the late 15th century by Asahina Yasuhiro, a retainer of the house of Imagawa, which consolidated its hold over Tōtōmi during and after the Ōnin War (1467–1477). The Ashina continued to hold the castle on behalf of the Imagawa until shortly after their spectacular defeat at Okehazama in 1560. As the Imagawa faded into obscurity, Tōtōmi was carved into two spheres of influence controlled by the competing Tokugawa and Takeda families. The Ashina surrendered Kakegawa Castle to the Tokugawa in 1568.
After the Tokugawa switched fiefs and moved to the Kantō area in 1590, Kakegawa Castle was given by Toyotomi Hideyoshi to his retainer, Yamauchi Kazutoyo, who built up the castle and the town until he was given the domain of Tosa on the island of Shikoku following the battle of Sekigahara in 1600. Following the departure of the Yamauchi, various daimyo held the castle until it was given to the Ōta clan in 1746 who held it until the abolishment of the feudal system in 1872. The main keep that Yamanouchi Kazutoyo built was destroyed in an earthquake in 1604 and was rebuilt. However, another major quake rocked the region in 1854 and destroyed much of the castle, including the keep, which was not rebuilt. Following that quake, the daimyo at the time, Ōta Sukekatsu, rebuilt the wonderful ninomaru (second bailey) palace, which survives to this day. In 1994, using traditional methods and made of wood and stone (no concrete!).
This is a great castle and the ninomaru palace is just as equally fascinating. I highly recommend visiting this site if you are ever in western Shizuoka.
Kensō-ji is a Buddhist temple of the Sōtō Sect which was established in the hilly Azabu District in the suburbs of Edo in honor of Nabeshima Tadatsugu, son of Nabeshima Katsushige, after his death from smallpox in 1635. Katsushige was the first lord of Saga Domain in Hizen Province (modern day Kyūshū) and was a loyal general to the shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu. His son built the temple to serve as the Nabeshima bodaiji, or funerary temple. There is a large graveyard located behind Kensō-ji were the daimyō and direct relatives of the Nabeshima clan are interred. When Katsushige died in 1657, 7 of his most loyal retainers committed suicide in an act called 殉死 (junshi) in order to follow their master in death. Behind Katsushige's large grave, there are 7 stone monuments "attending" him in Buddhism's endless cycle of death and rebirth.
The garden of the New Otani Hotel in Tokyo stands on the property that was once the primary yashiki (estate) of the great Sengoku period feudal lord, Katō Kiyomasa (1562-1611). Kiyomasa was a trusted retainer and general of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the warlord who unified Japan in the wake of Oda Nobunaga’s assassination in 1582. Kiyomasa rose to fame during the battle of Shizugatake and soon found himself at the vanguard of many of Hideyoshi’s campaigns, including the invasion of Korea in 1592, in which Kiyomasa’s reputation as a master tactician, fierce fighter, castle builder and as a cruel man grew. To this day, the mere mention of Kiyomasa’s name in Korea is sure to bring a frown. Although loyal to the Toyotomi, if there was one thing that Kiyomasa hated more than Christianity and poor martial spirit among the samurai, it was Ishida Mitsunari, leader of the Western coalition of daimyo that opposed the rise of Tokugawa Ieyasu. It was this hatred of Mitsunari that drove Kiyomasa into the Tokugawa camp where he played a pivotal role in the Kyushu theatre of the Sekigahara campaign in 1600. As a result of his service, Kiyomasa was rewarded by becoming one of the elite daimyo who were allowed to build his Edo estate near the shogun’s castle in the upscale area that became known as Kioi-cho, named after the elite Kii Tokugawa, Owari Tokugawa and Ii daimyo families that kept their residences in this area.
As Kiyomasa was loyal to the house of Toyotomi and as a final showdown between the Tokugawa and Toyotomi grew, the Tokugawa began to have their doubts about where Kiyomasa’s ultimate loyalty rested. Fearful of having to face this fierce and influential warlord on the opposing side of the battlefield when the fighting would inevitably erupt in 1615, it has been suggested that the Tokugawa had him poisoned. Shortly after the fall of the Toyotomi, Kiyomasa’s son was accused of disloyalty (most likely a trumped up charge) and the family’s fief in Kumamoto, Kyushu was seized by the shogunate and the clan was abolished. Soon after this, the grounds of the Katō estate in Tokyo were given to the Ii family.
When the New Otani Hotel was constructed, it was decided to keep the traditional Japanese garden intact. Today the garden covers more than 10 acres and has over 800 trees, 10,000 flowering plants, ponds, a waterfall, and 42 stone lanterns, many of which date back from the Edo (1603-1868) and the Kamakura (1192-1333) periods.
駒込名主屋敷・Residence of the Komagome Headman
(The ware house....)
名主 nanushi (village headman) was an administrative post in Pre-Meiji Japan. The Tokugawa Shōgunate gave villages a certain amount of autonomy in regards to how they governed themselves. Some headmen were elected by the villagers, others had been elected or appointed and the post was hereditary. As far as I know the shōgunate and various daimyō didn’t have consistent policies on this. In the case of 駒込村 Komagome Mura (Komagome Village), the position was hereditary and it was held by the 高木家 Takagi-ke (Takagi family) who were 武家 buke (a family of samurai rank). When I visited today I was surprised to find out that the Takagi still live on the property. This was pretty exciting and at the same time it was a little disappointing because the property is fenced in and you can only view it from the outside.
After the 大阪夏の陣 Ōsaka Natsu no Jin (Ōsaka Summer Campaign in 1615), many families of various ranks and samurai retainers of the short lived 豊臣氏 Toyotomi-shi (Toyotomi clan) fled the city or straight up defected to the Tokugawa side. The Takagi sought refuge in the shōgun’s capital of Edo and were granted a fief on the 山手 yamanote (high ground) of Komagome. The family was also appointed to the post of 名主 nanushi (village head) as a hereditary title. The family has held on to this little piece of real estate gold for about 400 years. Tokyo is a city with few trees outside of parks and shrines, but this residence boasts a large yard befitting the family’s former status. There is even a 2 story Edo Period 蔵 kura (warehouse) on the property. It’s my understanding that the gate and warehouse date from 1717.
The village headman’s main job was to listen to and settle disputes among the local 町人 chōnin (commoners). His house would have had a unique architectural feature that is often lost to the modern eye, the 式台 shikidai (a raised floor). Shikidai were reserved for the samurai class. This platform allowed a samurai to remain in his own home and on an elevated platform when he received guests of lower status. The Takagi would have heard the complaints of the commoners in this way.
This brings me to my big question… What was the Takagi family’s status? It seems like they were a samurai family because they had a large 屋敷 yashiki (residence, but this word is usually used for samurai families). They had hereditary status, though this is ambiguous. The home had (and may still have) a shikidai – a raised floor for receiving guests. This all points to samurai status, however the present resident has a 蔵 kura (warehouse) on the property. A warehouse is something that I can’t imagine being on a samurai residence. The only samurai families that would need warehouses would have been daimyō on 参勤交代 sankin-kōtai duty (alternate attendance).
I’m going to try to follow up this photo essay with more information. Watch this space.
The Ichiban (first) Yagura is a corner turret standing at the east end of the south of Ninomaru (outer bailey). It was originally constructed in 1628 and has been repaired/restored numerous times over the years. It has been designated an Important Cultural Asset.
The length of the stone walls that enclose Osaka Castle’s Ninomaru (outer bailey) is about 2km and the moat is 75 meters wide at its maximum point. This moat dates back to the Edo period and was built in 1628 on the site where the moat of the Toyotomi period Osaka Castle stood. 57 feudal lords were ordered by the Shogunate to rebuild Osaka Castle. Some of the notable daimyo (lords) families who participated in the rebuilding of the castle were the Nabeshima of Saga (in Kyushu), the Maeda of Kanazawa, the Ikeda of Tottori and the Kuroda family of Fukuoka. The Rokuban and Ichiban Yagura were two of seven corner turrets along the walls of the moat. Three were destroyed during the fighting at the castle associated with the Meiji Restoration in 1868 and two were destroyed during the air raids of World War II.
Osaka Castle has a long and storied history. It all began in 1496 when the priest Rennyo built a small temple called the Ishiyama Gobo on the grounds of the present-day castle. In 1533, the Hongan-ji temple moved from Yamashina in Kyoto to Osaka and made the Osaka location its head temple. As Japan plunged deeper into the chaos of civil war, the Ishiyama Hongan-ji grew in spiritual, political, economic and military power, challenging the rule of daimyo and led many popular military revolts. This Buddhist temple had become a center of military might that stood in Oda Nobuanga’s path of unifying Japan and in 1570, full-scale war broke out between him and the warrior monks. After 10 long years of siege and fighting, the temple finally surrendered to the Oda, and Nobunaga ordered that the temple and its remaining fortifications be burnt to the ground in 1580. Three years later, with Nobunaga dead and Hideyoshi starting to consolidate his power, he chose Osaka as his base and began building a castle on the ruins of the Ishiyama Hongan-ji compound. The main keep was completed in 1585 and was considered the largest, most splendid and impregnable fortress of its day. In 1599, a year after the death of Hideyoshi, his son and heir, Hideyori, along with his mother Yodo, permanently moved into Osaka Castle from Fushimi Castle in Kyoto.
By 1614, it was clear that the Tokugawa were spoiling for a fight with the Toyotomi as they wanted to eliminate any threat that Hideyori could mount from this massive castle. Therefore, in the winter of that year, Ieyasu and his son, Hidetada (now Shogun) launched the winter siege of Osaka. It was a fairly inconclusive affair, but as one of the terms of peace and as a goodwill gesture towards the Tokugawa, Hideyori agreed to fill in the outer moat. However, the Tokugawa forces started filling in the inner moat, severely weakening the castle’s defenses. It was only a matter of time before fighting broke out again under these conditions, and in the summer of 1615, the Tokugawa coalition once again laid siege to the castle. After some heavy and dramatic fighting in which western artillery was used against the castle, Hideyori and Yodo committed suicide when it became clear that all was lost and the castle’s main keep erupted in flames and was completely destroyed. After two major sieges and the final fire, the castle grounds were a heap of ruins.
However, Osaka was an important economic and political center and in 1620, the Tokugawa Shogunate decided to rebuild the castle. In 1626, a new white-colored main keep was built, symbolizing a new age for the castle. In the Toyotomi period, the color of the keep had been black. By 1629 the remaining structures were completed. Bad luck continued to dog the castle and in 1665 lightning struck the main keep and it was destroyed. Through the years, lightning would damage other turrets and structures. I868 also proved to be a disastrous year for Osaka Castle as this was the year of the Meiji Restoration. Following the defeat of the Shogunal forces at nearby Toba-Fushimi, the Tokugawa commanders based at the mighty fortress of Osaka decided to make a stand against the forces of Satsuma and Chōshū. During the fighting, much of the castle fell to the torch and the charred scars of this fiery tragedy are still visible on many of the Castle’s stone walls.
In 1931, with civilian donations, Osaka Castle’s main tower was rebuilt for a third time and the castle became home to a regional HQ for Japan’s Imperial Army. This was a bad move, as this made the castle a legitimate military target for US bombers and attack aircraft in the closing months of World War II. Many surviving turrets from the Edo period and other historical were bombed or burned to bits. In the 1950s, Osaka Castle and many of its structures were designated Important Cultural Properties and the entire site was designated an Important Historical Property by the central government.
Kakegawa Castle, strategically located along the old Tōkaidō Road in Shizuoka prefecture, is in the heart of one of Japan’s best tea cultivation centers. The peaceful atmosphere that prevails through the area wasn’t always so. Shizuoka prefecture used to be formally a part of Tōtōmi province, in a region known as the Enshū area, which was hotly contested by various warlords during Japan’s Sengoku warring states period that lasted from roughly 1477-1600. The first castle on the site of the present Kakegawa-jō was built in the late 15th century by Asahina Yasuhiro, a retainer of the house of Imagawa, which consolidated its hold over Tōtōmi during and after the Ōnin War (1467–1477). The Ashina continued to hold the castle on behalf of the Imagawa until shortly after their spectacular defeat at Okehazama in 1560. As the Imagawa faded into obscurity, Tōtōmi was carved into two spheres of influence controlled by the competing Tokugawa and Takeda families. The Ashina surrendered Kakegawa Castle to the Tokugawa in 1568.
After the Tokugawa switched fiefs and moved to the Kantō area in 1590, Kakegawa Castle was given by Toyotomi Hideyoshi to his retainer, Yamauchi Kazutoyo, who built up the castle and the town until he was given the domain of Tosa on the island of Shikoku following the battle of Sekigahara in 1600. Following the departure of the Yamauchi, various daimyo held the castle until it was given to the Ōta clan in 1746 who held it until the abolishment of the feudal system in 1872. The main keep that Yamanouchi Kazutoyo built was destroyed in an earthquake in 1604 and was rebuilt. However, another major quake rocked the region in 1854 and destroyed much of the castle, including the keep, which was not rebuilt. Following that quake, the daimyo at the time, Ōta Sukekatsu, rebuilt the wonderful ninomaru (second bailey) palace, which survives to this day. In 1994, using traditional methods and made of wood and stone (no concrete!).
This is a great castle and the ninomaru palace is just as equally fascinating. I highly recommend visiting this site if you are ever in western Shizuoka.
駒込名主屋敷・Residence of the Komagome Headman
名主 nanushi (village headman) was an administrative post in Pre-Meiji Japan. The Tokugawa Shōgunate gave villages a certain amount of autonomy in regards to how they governed themselves. Some headmen were elected by the villagers, others had been elected or appointed and the post was hereditary. As far as I know the shōgunate and various daimyō didn’t have consistent policies on this. In the case of 駒込村 Komagome Mura (Komagome Village), the position was hereditary and it was held by the 高木家 Takagi-ke (Takagi family) who were 武家 buke (a family of samurai rank). When I visited today I was surprised to find out that the Takagi still live on the property. This was pretty exciting and at the same time it was a little disappointing because the property is fenced in and you can only view it from the outside.
After the 大阪夏の陣 Ōsaka Natsu no Jin (Ōsaka Summer Campaign in 1615), many families of various ranks and samurai retainers of the short lived 豊臣氏 Toyotomi-shi (Toyotomi clan) fled the city or straight up defected to the Tokugawa side. The Takagi sought refuge in the shōgun’s capital of Edo and were granted a fief on the 山手 yamanote (high ground) of Komagome. The family was also appointed to the post of 名主 nanushi (village head) as a hereditary title. The family has held on to this little piece of real estate gold for about 400 years. Tokyo is a city with few trees outside of parks and shrines, but this residence boasts a large yard befitting the family’s former status. There is even a 2 story Edo Period 蔵 kura (warehouse) on the property. It’s my understanding that the gate and warehouse date from 1717.
The village headman’s main job was to listen to and settle disputes among the local 町人 chōnin (commoners). His house would have had a unique architectural feature that is often lost to the modern eye, the 式台 shikidai (a raised floor). Shikidai were reserved for the samurai class. This platform allowed a samurai to remain in his own home and on an elevated platform when he received guests of lower status. The Takagi would have heard the complaints of the commoners in this way.
This brings me to my big question… What was the Takagi family’s status? It seems like they were a samurai family because they had a large 屋敷 yashiki (residence, but this word is usually used for samurai families). They had hereditary status, though this is ambiguous. The home had (and may still have) a shikidai – a raised floor for receiving guests. This all points to samurai status, however the present resident has a 蔵 kura (warehouse) on the property. A warehouse is something that I can’t imagine being on a samurai residence. The only samurai families that would need warehouses would have been daimyō on 参勤交代 sankin-kōtai duty (alternate attendance).
I’m going to try to follow up this photo essay with more information. Watch this space.
Edo Period armor belonging to one of the Naruse daimyo. The Naruse family ruled Inuyama during the Edo Period (1603-1868).
Hamarikyu Gardens is a public park alongside Tokyo Bay next to the futuristic Shiodome district. The park is at the mouth of the Sumida River and is a landscaped stroll garden surrounding Shioiri Pond, whose level changes with the tides. The park is surrounded by a moat filled by Tokyo Bay and was once the site of a villa of a feudal lord. It later became the Imperial guesthouse. In 1946 it became a public park. Traditional falcon and goshawk hunting techniques are demonstrated daily. I can't believe I missed that!
Shokaku-ji is a Nichiren sect Buddhist temple in Naka-Meguro, Tokyo. It was established in 1619. The tachibana crest is quite popular in Japan, representing everything from the famous Ii daimyo warlord family to in this case, Nichiren Buddhism.
This helmet belonged to one of the Naruse daimyos. I didn't get a shot of the info card, but based on the look, my guess is that it dates back to the late Sengoku period to the early Edo period. (1580-1630). The Naruse family ruled Inuyama during the Edo Period (1603-1868).
The set contains a ewer, cups and vessels for sake, several sets of multi-tiered boxes, various bowls for rice and soup, and a container for storing tea utensils. the large boxes were carried by sliding a pole through the metal fixtures along the top edges and carried by servants on their shoulders.
Lotus garden in the moat of Fukuoka Castle (福岡城 Fukuoka-jō) also known as Maizuru (dancing crane) Castle (舞鶴城 Maizuru-jō) or Seki (stone) Castle (石城 Seki-jō). Early Edo, 17th Century, c. 1601 AD. Built for daimyo Kuroda Nagamasa. Fukuoka, Japan. Copyright 2016, James A. Glazier.
Oishi Yoshio Kuranosuke (1659-1703) was the chief retainer/adviser (karo) to Ako daimyo Asano Naganori. He is famous for leading a group of forty-seven Ako ronin in a well-planned campaign to get revenge on Kira Yoshinaka. The result is perhaps the most well-known story in Japanese history. Perhaps the most interesting part of the story regarding Oishi was that he actually divorced his wife and disassociated himself from his family. He hung out in areas of ill repute, became a drunk, and associated with prostitutes. He did all this in order to disguise his plan for revenge and dissuade attention from himself--talk about determination.
A man who had spat on Oishi during his destitute days is said to have felt such remorse after hearing of the loyal deed that he came to Oishi's grave to apologize. It is believed he committed seppuku as well. His grave is located on the premises along with the 46 ronin.
駒込名主屋敷・Residence of the Komagome Headman
(From a distance, you can tell this is different from usually buildings)
名主 nanushi (village headman) was an administrative post in Pre-Meiji Japan. The Tokugawa Shōgunate gave villages a certain amount of autonomy in regards to how they governed themselves. Some headmen were elected by the villagers, others had been elected or appointed and the post was hereditary. As far as I know the shōgunate and various daimyō didn’t have consistent policies on this. In the case of 駒込村 Komagome Mura (Komagome Village), the position was hereditary and it was held by the 高木家 Takagi-ke (Takagi family) who were 武家 buke (a family of samurai rank). When I visited today I was surprised to find out that the Takagi still live on the property. This was pretty exciting and at the same time it was a little disappointing because the property is fenced in and you can only view it from the outside.
After the 大阪夏の陣 Ōsaka Natsu no Jin (Ōsaka Summer Campaign in 1615), many families of various ranks and samurai retainers of the short lived 豊臣氏 Toyotomi-shi (Toyotomi clan) fled the city or straight up defected to the Tokugawa side. The Takagi sought refuge in the shōgun’s capital of Edo and were granted a fief on the 山手 yamanote (high ground) of Komagome. The family was also appointed to the post of 名主 nanushi (village head) as a hereditary title. The family has held on to this little piece of real estate gold for about 400 years. Tokyo is a city with few trees outside of parks and shrines, but this residence boasts a large yard befitting the family’s former status. There is even a 2 story Edo Period 蔵 kura (warehouse) on the property. It’s my understanding that the gate and warehouse date from 1717.
The village headman’s main job was to listen to and settle disputes among the local 町人 chōnin (commoners). His house would have had a unique architectural feature that is often lost to the modern eye, the 式台 shikidai (a raised floor). Shikidai were reserved for the samurai class. This platform allowed a samurai to remain in his own home and on an elevated platform when he received guests of lower status. The Takagi would have heard the complaints of the commoners in this way.
This brings me to my big question… What was the Takagi family’s status? It seems like they were a samurai family because they had a large 屋敷 yashiki (residence, but this word is usually used for samurai families). They had hereditary status, though this is ambiguous. The home had (and may still have) a shikidai – a raised floor for receiving guests. This all points to samurai status, however the present resident has a 蔵 kura (warehouse) on the property. A warehouse is something that I can’t imagine being on a samurai residence. The only samurai families that would need warehouses would have been daimyō on 参勤交代 sankin-kōtai duty (alternate attendance).
I’m going to try to follow up this photo essay with more information. Watch this space.
This gate is the main entrance to Osaka Castle.
Osaka Castle has a long and storied history. It all began in 1496 when the priest Rennyo built a small temple called the Ishiyama Gobo on the grounds of the present-day castle. In 1533, the Hongan-ji temple moved from Yamashina in Kyoto to Osaka and made the Osaka location its head temple. As Japan plunged deeper into the chaos of civil war, the Ishiyama Hongan-ji grew in spiritual, political, economic and military power, challenging the rule of daimyo and led many popular military revolts. This Buddhist temple had become a center of military might that stood in Oda Nobuanga’s path of unifying Japan and in 1570, full-scale war broke out between him and the warrior monks. After 10 long years of siege and fighting, the temple finally surrendered to the Oda, and Nobunaga ordered that the temple and its remaining fortifications be burnt to the ground in 1580. Three years later, with Nobunaga dead and Hideyoshi starting to consolidate his power, he chose Osaka as his base and began building a castle on the ruins of the Ishiyama Hongan-ji compound. The main keep was completed in 1585 and was considered the largest, most splendid and impregnable fortress of its day. In 1599, a year after the death of Hideyoshi, his son and heir, Hideyori, along with his mother Yodo, permanently moved into Osaka Castle from Fushimi Castle in Kyoto.
By 1614, it was clear that the Tokugawa were spoiling for a fight with the Toyotomi as they wanted to eliminate any threat that Hideyori could mount from this massive castle. Therefore, in the winter of that year, Ieyasu and his son, Hidetada (now Shogun) launched the winter siege of Osaka. It was a fairly inconclusive affair, but as one of the terms of peace and as a goodwill gesture towards the Tokugawa, Hideyori agreed to fill in the outer moat. However, the Tokugawa forces started filling in the inner moat, severely weakening the castle’s defenses. It was only a matter of time before fighting broke out again under these conditions, and in the summer of 1615, the Tokugawa coalition once again laid siege to the castle. After some heavy and dramatic fighting in which western artillery was used against the castle, Hideyori and Yodo committed suicide when it became clear that all was lost and the castle’s main keep erupted in flames and was completely destroyed. After two major sieges and the final fire, the castle grounds were a heap of ruins.
However, Osaka was an important economic and political center and in 1620, the Tokugawa Shogunate decided to rebuild the castle. In 1626, a new white-colored main keep was built, symbolizing a new age for the castle. In the Toyotomi period, the color of the keep had been black. By 1629 the remaining structures were completed. Bad luck continued to dog the castle and in 1665 lightning struck the main keep and it was destroyed. Through the years, lightning would damage other turrets and structures. I868 also proved to be a disastrous year for Osaka Castle as this was the year of the Meiji Restoration. Following the defeat of the Shogunal forces at nearby Toba-Fushimi, the Tokugawa commanders based at the mighty fortress of Osaka decided to make a stand against the forces of Satsuma and Chōshū. During the fighting, much of the castle fell to the torch and the charred scars of this fiery tragedy are still visible on many of the Castle’s stone walls.
In 1931, with civilian donations, Osaka Castle’s main tower was rebuilt for a third time and the castle became home to a regional HQ for Japan’s Imperial Army. This was a bad move, as this made the castle a legitimate military target for US bombers and attack aircraft in the closing months of World War II. Many surviving turrets from the Edo period and other historical were bombed or burned to bits. In the 1950s, Osaka Castle and many of its structures were designated Important Cultural Properties and the entire site was designated an Important Historical Property by the central government.
The Omizuya (御水舎), or Sacred Fountain or Water House, features a tsukubai covered with an ornate Chinese style roof, was dedicated by Nabeshima Katsushige (鍋島勝茂), an Edo-era daimyo and lord of Saga-han in 1618. A sculpture of a dragons flying over waves is carved just underneath the roof. In accordance with Shintō practice, worshippers would practice ritual purification by rinsing their hands and mouth with the water from this basin.
Nikkō Tōshō-gū (日光東照宮) is a lavishly decorated shrine complex consisting of more than a dozen Shinto and Buddhist buildings set in a beautiful forest. It was initially built during the Edo period in 1617 by Tokugawa Hidetada (徳川 秀忠), the second shogun, as a simple mausoleum for his father, Tokugawa Ieyasu (徳川 家康) (1543-1615), the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate. Ieyasu was buried on Mount Kunozan on his death in 1616, but according to his testament, his remains were to be moved to their last resting place at Nikko. It was enlarged during the first half of the 187th century by Ieyasu’s grandson, Tokugawa Iemitsu (徳川 家光), the third shogun. Some 15,000 craftsmen were employed on the construction of the Toshogu Shrine, most of them coming from Kyoto and Nara, where there was a great flowering of architecture at that period. The result was a complex of buildings with an over-lavish profusion of decoration, incorporating all the sumptuousness of the preceding Momoyama period.
Today the shrine is dedicated to the spirits of of Ieyasu and two other of Japan's most influential historical personalities—Toyotomi Hideyoshi (豊臣 秀吉) (1536-1598), a daimyo (territorial lord) in the Sengoku period who unified political factions of Japan; and Minamoto no Yorimoto (源 頼朝) (1147-1199), the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura Shogunate, ruling from 1192 until 1199.
Together with Rinnō-ji and Futarasan Shrine, Tōshō-gū forms the Shrines and Temples of Nikkō UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Daimyo Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who succeeded Oda Nobunaga, was well-known for his unification of Japan, helping to bring to an end the Sengoku, or Warring States period.
At the age of 50, he finally fathered his only son, Sutemaru, or Tsurumatsu. The little boy must have well-loved and anticipated, as the only heir of Toyotomi, meant to carry on his dynasty. Sadly, this small prince only lived just over two years, dying in September 1591. The beauty and richness of the Momoyama period are shown here, in these items a rich and all powerful warlord bestowed upon his son.
From the Tokyo National exhibit Masterpieces of the Zen Culture from Myoshinji, February 2009.
Toy Boat.
Owned by Toyotomi Sutemaru (1598-5191).
Azuchi-Momoyama period, 16th century.
Wood with polychrome, lacquer and metal foils.
This 2 meter long boat can be rolled, and it is said that the young Sutemaru was indeed entertained by having his nursemaid pull him along garden paths in it.
Personally, I like to picture the little Toyotomi imagining himself as a samurai travelling to new lands to conquer, wearing his child-sized armor, brandishing a piece of stick for a sword and crowing with delight.
This is one of the most delightful toys I've seen, and certainly is much more suited to Toyotomi's Hideyoshi son and heir than, say, my humble little red wagon I used as a child.
L. 202.8 cm, W. 99.2 cm.
Myoushinji Temple.
This is was taken at a small street shrine that is adjacent to Shōun-ji, a Zen Buddhist temple in the upscale area of Hiro-o in Tokyo. Shōun-ji was founded by the daimyo (feudal lord) Kuroda Tadayuki, who ruled the domain of Fukuoka in North Kyushu. The temple was built to serve as the final resting place for his father, the famed late Sengoku-period warlord Kuroda Nagamasa (1568-1623).
Some truly amazing woodwork here!
Expo Daymio - Seigneurs de la Guerre au Japon.
Musée Guimet (MNAAG), Paris (75).
Cette monture de sabre porte les armoiries de la famille Nagai.
Sans doute réalisée pour Nagai Naohiro (永井 直敬, 1664 - 18 juillet 1711) est un daimyo de l'époque d'Edo.
Un Daymio est un gouverneur féodal japonais.
Monture composée de fer, laque, soie et bois.
Osaka Castle has a long and storied history. It all began in 1496 when the priest Rennyo built a small temple called the Ishiyama Gobo on the grounds of the present-day castle. In 1533, the Hongan-ji temple moved from Yamashina in Kyoto to Osaka and made the Osaka location its head temple. As Japan plunged deeper into the chaos of civil war, the Ishiyama Hongan-ji grew in spiritual, political, economic and military power, challenging the rule of daimyo and led many popular military revolts. This Buddhist temple had become a center of military might that stood in Oda Nobuanga’s path of unifying Japan and in 1570, full-scale war broke out between him and the warrior monks. After 10 long years of siege and fighting, the temple finally surrendered to the Oda, and Nobunaga ordered that the temple and its remaining fortifications be burnt to the ground in 1580. Three years later, with Nobunaga dead and Hideyoshi starting to consolidate his power, he chose Osaka as his base and began building a castle on the ruins of the Ishiyama Hongan-ji compound. The main keep was completed in 1585 and was considered the largest, most splendid and impregnable fortress of its day. In 1599, a year after the death of Hideyoshi, his son and heir, Hideyori, along with his mother Yodo, permanently moved into Osaka Castle from Fushimi Castle in Kyoto.
By 1614, it was clear that the Tokugawa were spoiling for a fight with the Toyotomi as they wanted to eliminate any threat that Hideyori could mount from this massive castle. Therefore, in the winter of that year, Ieyasu and his son, Hidetada (now Shogun) launched the winter siege of Osaka. It was a fairly inconclusive affair, but as one of the terms of peace and as a goodwill gesture towards the Tokugawa, Hideyori agreed to fill in the outer moat. However, the Tokugawa forces started filling in the inner moat, severely weakening the castle’s defenses. It was only a matter of time before fighting broke out again under these conditions, and in the summer of 1615, the Tokugawa coalition once again laid siege to the castle. After some heavy and dramatic fighting in which western artillery was used against the castle, Hideyori and Yodo committed suicide when it became clear that all was lost and the castle’s main keep erupted in flames and was completely destroyed. After two major sieges and the final fire, the castle grounds were a heap of ruins.
However, Osaka was an important economic and political center and in 1620, the Tokugawa Shogunate decided to rebuild the castle. In 1626, a new white-colored main keep was built, symbolizing a new age for the castle. In the Toyotomi period, the color of the keep had been black. By 1629 the remaining structures were completed. Bad luck continued to dog the castle and in 1665 lightning struck the main keep and it was destroyed. Through the years, lightning would damage other turrets and structures. I868 also proved to be a disastrous year for Osaka Castle as this was the year of the Meiji Restoration. Following the defeat of the Shogunal forces at nearby Toba-Fushimi, the Tokugawa commanders based at the mighty fortress of Osaka decided to make a stand against the forces of Satsuma and Chōshū. During the fighting, much of the castle fell to the torch and the charred scars of this fiery tragedy are still visible on many of the Castle’s stone walls.
In 1931, with civilian donations, Osaka Castle’s main tower was rebuilt for a third time and the castle became home to a regional HQ for Japan’s Imperial Army. This was a bad move, as this made the castle a legitimate military target for US bombers and attack aircraft in the closing months of World War II. Many surviving turrets from the Edo period and other historical were bombed or burned to bits. In the 1950s, Osaka Castle and many of its structures were designated Important Cultural Properties and the entire site was designated an Important Historical Property by the central government.
This gate is the main entrance to Osaka Castle.
Osaka Castle has a long and storied history. It all began in 1496 when the priest Rennyo built a small temple called the Ishiyama Gobo on the grounds of the present-day castle. In 1533, the Hongan-ji temple moved from Yamashina in Kyoto to Osaka and made the Osaka location its head temple. As Japan plunged deeper into the chaos of civil war, the Ishiyama Hongan-ji grew in spiritual, political, economic and military power, challenging the rule of daimyo and led many popular military revolts. This Buddhist temple had become a center of military might that stood in Oda Nobuanga’s path of unifying Japan and in 1570, full-scale war broke out between him and the warrior monks. After 10 long years of siege and fighting, the temple finally surrendered to the Oda, and Nobunaga ordered that the temple and its remaining fortifications be burnt to the ground in 1580. Three years later, with Nobunaga dead and Hideyoshi starting to consolidate his power, he chose Osaka as his base and began building a castle on the ruins of the Ishiyama Hongan-ji compound. The main keep was completed in 1585 and was considered the largest, most splendid and impregnable fortress of its day. In 1599, a year after the death of Hideyoshi, his son and heir, Hideyori, along with his mother Yodo, permanently moved into Osaka Castle from Fushimi Castle in Kyoto.
By 1614, it was clear that the Tokugawa were spoiling for a fight with the Toyotomi as they wanted to eliminate any threat that Hideyori could mount from this massive castle. Therefore, in the winter of that year, Ieyasu and his son, Hidetada (now Shogun) launched the winter siege of Osaka. It was a fairly inconclusive affair, but as one of the terms of peace and as a goodwill gesture towards the Tokugawa, Hideyori agreed to fill in the outer moat. However, the Tokugawa forces started filling in the inner moat, severely weakening the castle’s defenses. It was only a matter of time before fighting broke out again under these conditions, and in the summer of 1615, the Tokugawa coalition once again laid siege to the castle. After some heavy and dramatic fighting in which western artillery was used against the castle, Hideyori and Yodo committed suicide when it became clear that all was lost and the castle’s main keep erupted in flames and was completely destroyed. After two major sieges and the final fire, the castle grounds were a heap of ruins.
However, Osaka was an important economic and political center and in 1620, the Tokugawa Shogunate decided to rebuild the castle. In 1626, a new white-colored main keep was built, symbolizing a new age for the castle. In the Toyotomi period, the color of the keep had been black. By 1629 the remaining structures were completed. Bad luck continued to dog the castle and in 1665 lightning struck the main keep and it was destroyed. Through the years, lightning would damage other turrets and structures. I868 also proved to be a disastrous year for Osaka Castle as this was the year of the Meiji Restoration. Following the defeat of the Shogunal forces at nearby Toba-Fushimi, the Tokugawa commanders based at the mighty fortress of Osaka decided to make a stand against the forces of Satsuma and Chōshū. During the fighting, much of the castle fell to the torch and the charred scars of this fiery tragedy are still visible on many of the Castle’s stone walls.
In 1931, with civilian donations, Osaka Castle’s main tower was rebuilt for a third time and the castle became home to a regional HQ for Japan’s Imperial Army. This was a bad move, as this made the castle a legitimate military target for US bombers and attack aircraft in the closing months of World War II. Many surviving turrets from the Edo period and other historical were bombed or burned to bits. In the 1950s, Osaka Castle and many of its structures were designated Important Cultural Properties and the entire site was designated an Important Historical Property by the central government.
Rokuban simply means “sixth” in Japanese and this two-storied turret is an Important Cultural Asset. Built in 1628, the Rokuban yagura was heavily damaged by U.S. bombing raids in 1945 during World War II and suffered more damage from a strong typhoon that whipped through Osaka in 1950. Luckily this yagura was saved and restored. It should also be noted that this yagura shares the same style of the castle’s Ichiban (first) yagura.
The length of the stone walls that enclose Osaka Castle’s Ninomaru (outer bailey) is about 2km and the moat is 75 meters wide at its maximum point. This moat dates back to the Edo period and was built in 1628 on the site where the moat of the Toyotomi period Osaka Castle stood. 57 feudal lords were ordered by the Shogunate to rebuild Osaka Castle. Some of the notable daimyo (lords) families who participated in the rebuilding of the castle were the Nabeshima of Saga (in Kyushu), the Maeda of Kanazawa, the Ikeda of Tottori and the Kuroda family of Fukuoka. The Rokuban and Ichiban Yagura were two of seven corner turrets along the walls of the moat. Three were destroyed during the fighting at the castle associated with the Meiji Restoration in 1868 and two were destroyed during the air raids of World War II.
Osaka Castle has a long and storied history. It all began in 1496 when the priest Rennyo built a small temple called the Ishiyama Gobo on the grounds of the present-day castle. In 1533, the Hongan-ji temple moved from Yamashina in Kyoto to Osaka and made the Osaka location its head temple. As Japan plunged deeper into the chaos of civil war, the Ishiyama Hongan-ji grew in spiritual, political, economic and military power, challenging the rule of daimyo and led many popular military revolts. This Buddhist temple had become a center of military might that stood in Oda Nobuanga’s path of unifying Japan and in 1570, full-scale war broke out between him and the warrior monks. After 10 long years of siege and fighting, the temple finally surrendered to the Oda, and Nobunaga ordered that the temple and its remaining fortifications be burnt to the ground in 1580. Three years later, with Nobunaga dead and Hideyoshi starting to consolidate his power, he chose Osaka as his base and began building a castle on the ruins of the Ishiyama Hongan-ji compound. The main keep was completed in 1585 and was considered the largest, most splendid and impregnable fortress of its day. In 1599, a year after the death of Hideyoshi, his son and heir, Hideyori, along with his mother Yodo, permanently moved into Osaka Castle from Fushimi Castle in Kyoto.
By 1614, it was clear that the Tokugawa were spoiling for a fight with the Toyotomi as they wanted to eliminate any threat that Hideyori could mount from this massive castle. Therefore, in the winter of that year, Ieyasu and his son, Hidetada (now Shogun) launched the winter siege of Osaka. It was a fairly inconclusive affair, but as one of the terms of peace and as a goodwill gesture towards the Tokugawa, Hideyori agreed to fill in the outer moat. However, the Tokugawa forces started filling in the inner moat, severely weakening the castle’s defenses. It was only a matter of time before fighting broke out again under these conditions, and in the summer of 1615, the Tokugawa coalition once again laid siege to the castle. After some heavy and dramatic fighting in which western artillery was used against the castle, Hideyori and Yodo committed suicide when it became clear that all was lost and the castle’s main keep erupted in flames and was completely destroyed. After two major sieges and the final fire, the castle grounds were a heap of ruins.
However, Osaka was an important economic and political center and in 1620, the Tokugawa Shogunate decided to rebuild the castle. In 1626, a new white-colored main keep was built, symbolizing a new age for the castle. In the Toyotomi period, the color of the keep had been black. By 1629 the remaining structures were completed. Bad luck continued to dog the castle and in 1665 lightning struck the main keep and it was destroyed. Through the years, lightning would damage other turrets and structures. I868 also proved to be a disastrous year for Osaka Castle as this was the year of the Meiji Restoration. Following the defeat of the Shogunal forces at nearby Toba-Fushimi, the Tokugawa commanders based at the mighty fortress of Osaka decided to make a stand against the forces of Satsuma and Chōshū. During the fighting, much of the castle fell to the torch and the charred scars of this fiery tragedy are still visible on many of the Castle’s stone walls.
In 1931, with civilian donations, Osaka Castle’s main tower was rebuilt for a third time and the castle became home to a regional HQ for Japan’s Imperial Army. This was a bad move, as this made the castle a legitimate military target for US bombers and attack aircraft in the closing months of World War II. Many surviving turrets from the Edo period and other historical were bombed or burned to bits. In the 1950s, Osaka Castle and many of its structures were designated Important Cultural Properties and the entire site was designated an Important Historical Property by the central government.
伊達政宗をまつる霊廟、瑞鳳殿。1979年に再建された。絢爛豪華！
Zuiho-den is the mausoleum of Date Masamune, one of the most famous daimyo during the Azuchi-momoyma period and the Edo period. It was rebuilt in 1979. Gorgeous!
カシワ_17509
Kashiwa
Daimyo Oak in Kashiwa city, Chiba prefecture, Japan.
[ Quercus dentata ]
ブナ科（Fagaceae）コナラ属
すっかり葉を展開したカシワです。
秋に枯れた葉が冬の間も落ちずに残るため、冬は違和感のある姿をしていますが、芽吹きとともに落ち、自らの養分とするんでしょうか？その効果は、秋に葉を落としても変わらないような気がしますけど。。。
Taken inside the daimyo's palace at Kakegawa Castle.
Kakegawa Castle, strategically located along the old Tōkaidō Road in Shizuoka prefecture, is in the heart of one of Japan’s best tea cultivation centers. The peaceful atmosphere that prevails through the area wasn’t always so. Shizuoka prefecture used to be formally a part of Tōtōmi province, in a region known as the Enshū area, which was hotly contested by various warlords during Japan’s Sengoku warring states period that lasted from roughly 1477-1600. The first castle on the site of the present Kakegawa-jō was built in the late 15th century by Asahina Yasuhiro, a retainer of the house of Imagawa, which consolidated its hold over Tōtōmi during and after the Ōnin War (1467–1477). The Ashina continued to hold the castle on behalf of the Imagawa until shortly after their spectacular defeat at Okehazama in 1560. As the Imagawa faded into obscurity, Tōtōmi was carved into two spheres of influence controlled by the competing Tokugawa and Takeda families. The Ashina surrendered Kakegawa Castle to the Tokugawa in 1568.
After the Tokugawa switched fiefs and moved to the Kantō area in 1590, Kakegawa Castle was given by Toyotomi Hideyoshi to his retainer, Yamauchi Kazutoyo, who built up the castle and the town until he was given the domain of Tosa on the island of Shikoku following the battle of Sekigahara in 1600. Following the departure of the Yamauchi, various daimyo held the castle until it was given to the Ōta clan in 1746 who held it until the abolishment of the feudal system in 1872. The main keep that Yamanouchi Kazutoyo built was destroyed in an earthquake in 1604 and was rebuilt. However, another major quake rocked the region in 1854 and destroyed much of the castle, including the keep, which was not rebuilt. Following that quake, the daimyo at the time, Ōta Sukekatsu, rebuilt the wonderful ninomaru (second bailey) palace, which survives to this day. In 1994, using traditional methods and made of wood and stone (no concrete!).
This is a great castle and the ninomaru palace is just as equally fascinating. I highly recommend visiting this site if you are ever in western Shizuoka.
You know Japan is truly in the middle of a Sengoku history boom when they start selling bath salts themed (or even scented?) with famous daimyo from the period. The Sengoku boom is being fueled by young women, believe it or not, many of whom have developed "things" for various warlords and other famous samurai from the period based on how they are portrayed in manga, TV dramas and video games. Yes, video games. The game "Sengoku Basara" from a few years back is credited with really helping to turn the growing wave of interest in the Sengoku period, particularly among young women, into a pop culture tsunami.
L to R: Daimyo, old retainer (2nd row), samurai, naginata samurai, archer, and Buddhist warrior monk.
A more traditional army of professional warrior retainers (samurai).
Note shield behind archer, for his use.
Disregard the ninja, you can't see them. They're secret.
Three Warlords of Tohoku region（Date Masamune,Gamou Ujisato,Uesugi Kagekatsu）I was awarded the Excellence Award in the contest（Sen-Baku＊ Festival 2012 Illustration Contest）. This work was renewed the award-winning work.＊Sen-Baku（Sengoku period and late Tokugawa shogunate）
Paris , musée national des arts asiatiques – Guimet
milieu 18 è siecle
Japon , période Edo 1673–1745
armoiries du domaine de Takasu aujourd'hui Kaizu
seigneur Tokugawa Munekatsu
armure à la cuirasse en écailles en fer laqué or
casque réalisé par l'armurier Myochin Muneakira
masque école de Myochin présente une expression féroce style Ressi
mid 18 th century
Japan, Edo period 1673-1745
coat of arms of Takasu Domain today Kaizu
Lord Tokugawa Munekatsu
armor with cuirass in scales in gold lacquered iron
helmet made by the gunsmith Myochin Muneakira
Myochin's school mask presents a ferocious expression Ressi style