Aoba Castle

Japanese: 青葉城 - あおばじょう

Also known as Sendai Castle. A flatland castle west of the Hirose River in Aoba Ward, Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture, it was the residence of the Date clan, with a fief of 620,000 koku. The north and east face cliffs along the Hirose River, while the south is the cliff of Tatsunokuchi. There was an ancient fort here, but in 1189, Chiba Tanemichi (who took the surname Kunibu) built a castle here and called it Aoba Castle. During the time of Moriuji, Date Harumune's fifth son, Morishige, became his heir and took possession of the castle, and in 1591, Date Masamune took possession of it. In 1600, it was renovated as the prefecture castle, and in 1603, the entire construction was completed and the castle town was built, and the castle was moved there from Iwadeyama Castle. In the 5th year of the Kanei Era, the outer castle, Wakabayashi Castle, was built, and in the 16th year of the same year, the Ninomaru was expanded. Since then, the Date clan ruled the castle for 14 generations for over 270 years until the Meiji Restoration, but the Honmaru, Ninomaru, and Sannomaru were burned down in the early years of the Meiji Era. The castle was praised throughout the country for its structure, and it is said that it did not have a castle tower, but instead had a castle tower base. The Otemon Gate in particular was said to have been a gift from Toyotomi Hideyoshi from the castle gate of Nagoya in Hizen, and was a magnificent structure, but it was destroyed in an air raid in July 1945 during World War II. Only the stone walls remain, and there is a monument bearing the poem "Kojo no Tsuki" (The Moon over the Ruined Castle).

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

仙台城ともいう。宮城県仙台市青葉区の広瀬川の西にある平山城で，伊達氏 62万石の居城。北および東は広瀬川に面し断崖，南は竜ノ口の断崖。古来砦があったが，文治5 (1189) 年，千葉胤道 (国分の姓を称する) が城を築き青葉城と称した。盛氏のとき，伊達晴宗の5男盛重が嗣子となって領し，天正 19 (1591) 年には伊達政宗が領有。慶長5 (1600) 年府城として修築，同8年全工事を終って城下町を建設し，岩出山城より移る。寛永5 (28) 年に外城少林 (わかばやし) 城を，同 16年二の丸を増築，以来伊達氏 14代，270年余世襲して明治維新にいたったが，本丸，二の丸，三の丸は明治初年に焼失した。結構は天下にうたわれ，天守閣は構えず天守台をおいたという。特に大手門は，肥前名護屋の城門を豊臣秀吉から拝領したものといわれ，みごとなものであったが，1945年7月の第2次世界大戦時の空襲で烏有に帰した。石垣が残り，『荒城の月』の詩碑がある。

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