The pride of the castles in the six Tohoku prefectures: "The largest in Michinoku"! Yamagata Castle, a tribute to the glory of the Mogami clan [Yamagata City, Yamagata Prefecture]

Yamagata Castle is said to have been built in 1356 (the first year of Enbun) during the Muromachi period by Shiba Kaneyori, the founder of the Mogami clan, when he became the Ushu Tandai and entered Yamagata.

The Mogami clan used Yamagata Castle as their base and expanded their territory in Dewa Province (present-day Akita Prefecture), reaching its greatest extent during the reign of the 11th head of the clan, Mogami Yoshiaki, when they are said to have had the largest territory in the Tohoku region.

In addition, the term "territory" in the context of a castle does not refer to the "territory" of an animal or anti-social forces, but rather to the overall design of the castle (the layout of the moats, stone walls, earthen ramparts, moats, and trenches, etc.).

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Yamagata Castle, the fifth largest castle in Japan (Yamagata City: National Historic Site, 100 Great Castles in Japan)

Yamagata Castle is a flatland castle with the Honmaru, Ninomaru, and Sannomaru built in concentric circles, surrounded by triple moats (water moats) and earthen ramparts. The Honmaru (2.83 hectares), where the palace was located, is at the center, with the Ninomaru (27.99 hectares) located outside of that. These remain as the current Yamagata Castle ruins (Kasumi Castle Park).

Outside of that 234.86 hectares . This was the largest castle among the six Tohoku prefectures, and the castle was built in a unique way, being located at the tip of a fan-shaped plain, at a lower elevation than the castle town.

Furthermore, when comparing the size of castles across Japan, including their outer walls, Yamagata Castle is the fifth largest after Edo Castle, Osaka Castle, Odawara Castle, and Nagoya Castle.

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What is the origin of Yamagata Castle's nickname?

Yamagata Castle is also known by other names such as Kajo (Kasumi Castle), Kasumigajo (Kasumiga Castle), and Kichijijo

The nicknames Kasumi Castle and Kasumigajo come from the fact that during the Battle of Hasedō, part of the Keichō Dewa War that took place in the Tohoku region in connection with the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 (Keichō 5), Yamagata Castle was shrouded in fog and was not visible to the invading Uesugi forces.

Yamagata Castle's vast Sannomaru bailey has 11 gates and it is said that the castle was also called "Kichiji no Shiro" (Castle of Luck) because the character for "kichi" is made up of the character for "eleven" with a mouth written on it.

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The successive lords of Yamagata Castle

From the time of its construction until the early Edo period, Yamagata Castle was ruled by the Mogami clan, but after the Mogami clan was abolished by the Edo Shogunate, the castle went through many successive changes of lords.

As a result, the castle gradually fell into disrepair from the mid-Edo period onwards, and by the end of the Edo period, the size of the castle had shrunk to the point that about half of the Sannomaru area had become farmland.

Shiba clan (Mogami clan) (1356-1622)

The Shiba clan descended from the Ashikaga clan of the Seiwa Genji clan, and Yamagata Castle was built by Shiba Kaneyori , the Ushu Tandai (deputy governor of Ushu). The Muromachi shogunate granted them the title of "Yagata Mogami Yagata ," and began calling themselves the Mogami clan.

Then, during the time of the 11th head of the family, Mogami Yoshiaki, the domain expanded and he became a great daimyo with 570,000 koku of rice. Yamagata Castle also had the Sannomaru (third bailey) constructed, and samurai residences and a castle town were developed.

Torii clan (1622-1636)

When Mogami Yoshimitsu died in 1614, a succession dispute arose, and during the reign of the 13th head of the family (the 3rd lord of the Yamagata domain), Yoshitoshi, the family was stripped of its title in Mogami Disturbance

the fief of 100,000 koku in Mutsu Iwakidaira, was transferred to Yamagata Castle as a watchdog for the feudal lords of the Tohoku region, and Tadamasa frequently renovated the castle.

However, Tadamasa's eldest son, Tadatsune, who succeeded him after his death, was sickly, and the shogunate took notice of him in the succession process, so he was stripped of his position and transferred to Takato in Shinno.

The Hoshina clan (1636-1643)

Hoshina Masayuki was transferred from Takato as lord of Yamagata Castle in place of Torii

Hoshina Masayuki was the half-brother of the third Tokugawa Shogun, Iemitsu.He was a skilled politician and was highly trusted and valued by Iemitsu.After the Kato clan was transferred due to a family dispute in the Aizu domain, Hoshina Masayuki was transferred to Aizu to keep the various daimyo in the Tohoku region in check.

Hoshina Masayuki is also said to have renovated Yamagata Castle in preparation for a rebellion, and unlike the drawings from the Mogami clan era, the " Map of Yamagata Castle Town During the Hoshina Clan Era " shows that the residences of Yamagata domain vassals were located in the Sannomaru, while town houses and temples and shrines were located outside the moat.

A rapid change of feudal lords

After Hoshina Masayuki moved to Aizu, the lord of Yamagata Castle began to change rapidly between Tokugawa related daimyo and Fudai daimyo.

The families were the Yuki Matsudaira clan, the Okudaira Matsudaira clan, the Okudaira clan, the Hotta clan, the Yuki Matsudaira clan, the Okudaira Matsudaira clan, the Hotta clan, the Ogyu Matsudaira clan, the Shogunate's Tenryo, the Akimoto clan, and the Mizuno clan, and in 1870 (Meiji 3), Mizuno Tadahiro became the last lord of the castle and left Yamagata Castle.

During the Meiji period, Yamagata Castle became a barracks for the 32nd Infantry Regiment of the Imperial Japanese Army, and the towers and palace were demolished, the main castle was filled in, and the moat of the Sannomaru was filled in, allowing for the expansion of farmland.

I thought about the layout of Yamagata Castle

Yamagata Castle is a flat-land castle with an outline structure, and old castle drawings show that the Honmaru, Ninomaru, and Sannomaru are each surrounded by a moat filled with water.

The Honmaru only has a palace and no castle tower, while the Ninomaru had a three-story turret until the early Edo period. The moat that can be seen in Kasumigaoka Park today is from the Ninomaru and has been preserved in the same condition as it was back then.

However, the moat around Honmaru is now a dry moat, and the moat around Sannomaru, which became part of the city, was filled in around the time of the Meiji Restoration, so there are only a few traces left today.

There were entrance and exit gates at various points along the earthen walls, with five in Ninomaru and eleven in Sannomaru.

During the time of the Mogami clan, each gate was in a style called " sotomasugata ," which meant that it jutted out towards the outer moat, but when the Ninomaru was later expanded, they were rebuilt in uchimasugata

The Ninomaru Higashi Otemon Gate was restored in 1991 using wood, and the Yaguramon and Tsuzukiyagura gates can be seen in the square (masugata) that forms the keyhole.

Yamagata Castle has many earthen ramparts, and each gate is a turret gate to increase defensive power, with stone walls built at each corner where the gates are located.

Additionally, the foundation stones of a folding screen earthen wall, which can be bent like a folding screen to attack enemies climbing the wall from the side, have been discovered on top of the earthen rampart on the north side of the Ninomaru, and are the first of their kind in the country, creating a buzz.

Yamagata Castle Ruins, a Nationally Designated Historic Site <Information>

• Facility name: Nationally designated historic site Yamagata Castle (Kajo Park)
• Address: 1 Kasumicho, Yamagata City, Yamagata Prefecture
• Phone number: 023-641-1212
• Opening hours: Yamagata City Local Museum (former Saiseikan Main Building) 9:00-16:30
• URL: Yamagata Castle Official Website, a National Historic Site

Google Map

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summary

After the Meiji Restoration, Yamagata Castle fell into disrepair and was used as a barracks for the former army. After the war, however, it was transformed into Kasumigaoka Park, and cultural and sports facilities such as a museum, gymnasium, and baseball field were developed.

Currently, plans are underway to relocate these facilities and redevelop the park, including restoring the moat and earthen ramparts of the main castle, with completion scheduled for 2033.

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