Matsusaka castle 

The entrance

The Matsusaka castle is a Japanese castle made in Matsusaka city, Mie prefecture in the Sengoku period. Wooden structures were not survived. Its area was roughly 500 meters to 800 meters at that time, however, almost all except the central hill area was redeveloped to an urban area. The central hill area is roughly 250 meters to 300 meters. There are still many stone walls survived.

This castle, as a sightseeing place, is not so famous, compared with major Japanese castles such as the Himeji castle, the Osaka castle and so on. However, it was very important castle when it was constructed. And the location of it was deeply affected.

Its history

Matsusaka city is located in the middle of Mie prefecture. And Mie prefecture is roughly the center of whole Japan. A little south of this city, one of the very important shrines, Ise shrine is located. Ise shrine has been the central facility of the Shinto religion, and this area was supposed as important district in the old days in Japan. So, powerful regional ruler was positioned in this region.

Though the period when Samurai became to rule Japan started, the importance was not changed. More specifically, the Kitabatake clan who based at the Tamaru castle which was close to the Ise shrine ruled this region during the Muromachi period. He was registered as the Shugo, which was high government post for regional rulers. In the Sengoku period, political power of the center began to fade, however, the Kitabatake clan still had real military ability around his territory.

In 1569, Oda Nobunaga in Owari district attacked the Kitabatake clan, and beat them. He made one of his sons, Nobukatsu succeed to the top of the Kitabatake clan. So, Nobukatsu became the ruler of the Tamaru castle. He thought the castle was too close to the Ise shrine, so he made another castle, the Matsugashima castle in Matsusaka city. In the story described so far, Matsusaka castle didn't appear yet, but the location, Matsusaka city appeared. It means this location, Matsusaka city was important in the main stream of politics of whole Japan in the Sengoku period.

Then the end of the Sengoku period came. Oda Nobunaga was murdered, and Toyotomi Hideyoshi became the next ruler of whole Japan. After this incident, Oda Nobukatsu came into conflict with Hideyoshi. A battle between Nobukatsu and Hideyoshi happened, and ended with Nobukatsu's defeat. Nobukatsu offered a settlement and Hideyoshi accepted his proposal. In this way he was forced to move his territory to an unimportant and small region. 

Gamou Ujisato

Here comes a new name, Gamou Ujisato, one of famous Sengoku warriors. He came in the Matsugashima castle and became the next regional ruler of this castle. Because he had performed good military exploits during the former battle. After the entry into this castle, he noticed its weakness. It was too close to a coastline, and it wasn't so much strong against invaders. Then he made the new castle, the Matsusaka castle in an inland area. 

He was forced to transfer to Tohoku district soon after the completion of this castle. And another Sengoku Warrior came to it after him. There is a fact that a compound where has the name after the next castle owner's son is in the Matsusaka castle. So, we suppose the completion was extended until the days of the new castle owner. However, city authorities want to use the name, Gamou Ujisato persistently. They advertise this Matsusaka castle was planned, and, was completed by Gamou Ujisato. 

What was in the castle area?

If someone asks you what are parts of Japanese castles, you may imagine the main tower, stone walls, moats, earthen walls, turrets and so on. However, there is no item except stone walls in this castle. The reason is hidden in its history. After Gamou Ujisato's presence, the situation was dramatically changed. The thing is, no battle was happened around there from the transfer of Gamou Ujisato until the end of the feudal period.

Furthermore, there was no castle owner after the beginning of the Edo period. It was owned by the ruler of the Wakayama castle in Kisyu district (today's Wakayama prefecture). Then there were only administration officers lived and worked in this castle. As a result, partial damages of the main tower, turrets and earthen walls were not recovered. And when the main tower was burned, new main tower was not made.

Original area (red line remained area)

When comparing the Matsusaka castle and other castles, the latters remain many records. In contrast, we suppose there are very few records in the Matsusaka castle. That is a reason why there aren't any wooden structures of the castle. There are suppositions, however, no building was planned to reconstruct now.