Along with Himeji and Kumamoto, Matsumoto Castle, once known as Fukashi Castle, is one of the most important historic castles of Japan. Because of its black appearance, the edifice is also known as the Crow Castle. During the Edo Period Tokugawa shogunate, it served as the headquarters of Matsumoto Domain. It is situated in the city of Matsumoto of Nagano Prefecture . Completed in the latter part of the sixteenth century, the keep still has its original exterior stonework and wooden interiors. One of the twelve surviving original tenshu in Japan, it is recognized as a National Treasure of Japan. Because Matsumoto Castle is situated on a plain rather than a hilltop or between two rivers, it is a flatland castle. An intricate network of connected moats, gatehouses, and walls would have made up its whole defensive system. The Sengoku era is when the castle first came into being. During the Eisho period of 1504–1520, the shugō of Shinano Province, Shimadachi Sadanaga of the Ogasawara clan, constructed a stronghold at this place. The original name of this small border post was Fukashi Castle. After the Siege of Fukashi in 1550, the Takeda clan took control of it. Baba Nobuharu, retainer of Takeda Shingen, was named castellan. In addition to serving as a stronghold in the ongoing battle between the Takeda and the formidable Uesugi clan to the north, the castle served as the Takeda field headquarters during their conquest of the Matsumoto Basin. The fortress was turned over to Oda Nagamasu when Oda Nobunaga defeated the Takeda clan in 1582. Kiso Yoshimasa received it back shortly after. Following assassination of Oda Nobunaga in 1582, Ogasawara Dosetsuzai, with the support of Uesugi Kagekatsu, took control of the castle. Later, Ogasawara Sadayoshi, his nephew, renamed the castle Matsumoto Castle and swore allegiance to Tokugawa Ieyasu. Ishikawa Kazumasa took command of Matsumoto when Tokugawa Ieyasu was moved from his ancestral territories to the Kantō area after the victory of Toyotomi Hideyoshi of Odawara in 1590. The tower, along with other parts of the castle, were constructed by Kazumasa and his son Yasunaga. These parts include the Watari Yagura, the residence, the drum gate, the black gate, the Tsukimi Yagura, the moat, the innermost bailey, the second bailey, the third bailey, and the sub-floors of the castle, all of which were started in 1590. They had a crucial role in the layout of the town facilities of the castle as well. Most of the castle is said to have been finished around 1593–1544. The Matsumoto Domain was founded by the Tokugawa shogunate during the Edo period. From 1613 to 1617, the Ogasawara made a brief comeback to Matsumoto as daimyō. From 1617 to 1633, the Toda-Matsudaira clan succeeded them, followed by the Matsudaira dynasty from 1633 to 1638, the Hotta clan from 1638 to 1642, the Mizuno clan from 1642 to 1725, and once again from 1725 until the Meiji restoration in 1868 [Information and Image Credit : Matsumoto_Castle, Wikipedia] [Wikipedia-Link : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsumoto_Castle ] [Image : The keep of Matsumoto Castle; Wikipedia-Image-Author : 663highland ] [Image availed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported; (Please Relate to Individual Image URLs for More Usage Property)] [License-Link : https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en ] [Wikipedia-Image-Source-Link : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:130608_Matsumoto_Castle_Matsumoto_Nagano_pref_Japan01bs5.jpg ] #Castles#History
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Monuments and Architecture
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