Inuyama Castle

Japanese: 犬山城 - いぬやまじょう

Hirayama Castle was located in Inuyama City, Aichi Prefecture. It is one of the "100 Great Castles in Japan" selected by the Japan Castle Foundation. It was built on a hill along the Kiso River. It is one of the few castles built around the Edo period that still has its castle tower, which has been designated a national treasure. The origin of Inuyama Castle is said to be when Oda Hirochika, a vassal of the Muromachi Shogunate's Kanrei Shiba Yoshisato, built a fort here in 1469 (Bunmei 1). In 1537 (Tenbun 6), Oda Nobuyasu (uncle of Oda Nobunaga), who lived in Kinoshita Castle (Inuyama City), renovated the castle and moved there. It is believed that the existing part of the castle tower up to the second floor was built around this time. In 1567 (Eiroku 10), during the time of Nobuyasu's son Nobukiyo, Inuyama Castle was captured by rival Oda Nobunaga, and Ikeda Tsuneoki and Oda Katsunaga served as lords of the castle. After Nobunaga died in the Honnoji Incident in 1582 (Tensho 10), Inuyama Castle became a branch castle of Nobunaga's second son, Oda Nobukatsu, who lived in Kiyosu Castle, and Nakagawa Sadanari, a subordinate of Nobukatsu, became the lord of the castle. However, in 1584 (Tensho 12), the former lord Ikeda Tsuneoki seized the castle in a surprise attack. This was one of the causes of the later Battle of Komaki and Nagakute. After that, the lord of Inuyama Castle was passed down from Miyoshi Yoshifusa to Ishikawa Sadakiyo. There is a legend that during the time when Ishikawa Sadakiyo was the lord of the castle, the castle tower of Kanayama Castle in Mino (Gifu Prefecture) was moved to Inuyama Castle, but an investigation carried out during the dismantling and repair of the castle tower in 1961 (Showa 36) refuted this theory. Later, the lord Sadakiyo fell from grace after joining the Western Army in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 (Keicho 5), and the castle was succeeded by Ogasawara Yoshitsugu and Hiraiwa Chikayoshi, and in 1617 (Genwa 3), Naruse Masashige, a chief retainer of the Owari Domain, became the lord of the castle, and it was the residence of nine generations of the Naruse clan until the Meiji Restoration. Inuyama Castle was abandoned when the feudal domains were abolished and prefectures were established in the Meiji era, and most of the castle tower, including the turrets and castle gates, except for the castle tower, were demolished, and the turret attached to the castle tower was destroyed in the Nobi earthquake of 1891 (Meiji 24), and it was also damaged by the Ise Bay Typhoon of 1959 (Showa 34). For this reason, the castle was dismantled and repaired between 1961 and 1965. In April 2004, Inuyama Castle, which was previously privately owned, was transferred to the Inuyama Castle Hakutei Bunko Foundation, where it remains to this day. The 19m tall castle tower stands on top of a 5m tall stone wall built using a method of piling up stones called Nozurazumi. In addition, the Yaraimon Gate of Inuyama Castle, which was sold off when the feudal domains were abolished and prefectures were established in the Meiji period, has been relocated and reconstructed at Senshuin (Fuso-cho, Niwa-gun), the Kuromon Gate at Tokurin-ji (Oguchi-cho, Niwa-gun), the Matsunomarumon Gate at Joren-ji (Ichinomiya City), and the castle gate believed to be Uchida-mon at Zuisen-ji (Inuyama City), and several other castle gates have been relocated and reconstructed at Renzen-ji (Ichinomiya City) and other locations. It is about a 15-minute walk from Meitetsu Inuyama Station or Inuyama-yuen Station on the Meitetsu Inuyama Line. ◇It is also called Baidi Castle or Tortoise Shell Castle. The nickname Baidi Castle is said to have been given by Ogyu Sorai during the Edo period, after the poem "Early Baidi Castle" by Li Bai, which describes Baidi Castle, which was located in the Yangtze River basin in ancient China.

Source: Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japanese Castles Information

Japanese:

愛知県犬山市にあった平山城(ひらやまじろ)。日本城郭協会選定による「日本100名城」の一つ。木曽川沿いの丘の上に築かれた城郭である。江戸時代前後に建造された天守閣が現存する数少ない城の一つで、天守閣は国宝に指定されている。1469年（文明1）に室町幕府の管領斯波義郷の家臣だった織田広近がこの地に砦を築いたのが犬山城の起源とされる。1537年（天文6）、木ノ下城（犬山市）を居城としていた織田信康（織田信長の叔父）が城を改修して居城を移した。現存する天守の2階までの部分はこのころにつくられたと推定されている。1567年（永禄10）、信康の子信清の代に、犬山城は対立していた織田信長に攻め取られ、池田恒興や織田勝長などが城主をつとめた。1582年（天正10）に信長が本能寺の変で死去したのち、犬山城は清洲城を居城とした信長の次男織田信雄の支城となり、信雄配下の中川定成が城主として入城したが、1584年（天正12）に旧城主の池田恒興が奇襲により城を奪取した。これがのちの小牧・長久手の戦いの原因の一つとなった。その後、犬山城主は三好吉房を経て石川貞清がつとめた。この石川貞清が城主をつとめていた時代に、美濃（岐阜県）の金山城の天守を犬山城に移築したという伝承があるが、1961年（昭和36）の天守の解体修理の際に行われた調査の結果、この移築説は否定された。その後、城主の貞清は1600年（慶長5）の関ヶ原の戦いで西軍に属したために没落し、小笠原吉次、平岩親吉を経て、1617年（元和3）には尾張藩付家老の成瀬正成が城主となり、以後、明治維新まで成瀬氏9代の居城となった。明治の廃藩置県により犬山城は廃城となり、天守を除く櫓(やぐら)・城門などの大部分が取り壊され、1891年（明治24）の濃尾地震で天守の付櫓が破壊され、また、1959年（昭和34）の伊勢湾台風でも被害を受けた。このため、1961年（昭和36）から1965年（昭和41）にかけて解体修理が行われている。2004年（平成16）4月、個人所有だった犬山城は財団法人犬山城白帝文庫に移管され、現在に至っている。野面積みとよばれる積み方でつくられた高さ5mの石垣の上に、高さ19mの天守閣が建っている。また、明治の廃藩置県の際に払い下げられた犬山城の矢来門が専修院（丹羽郡扶桑町）に、黒門が徳林寺（丹羽郡大口町）に、松之丸門が浄蓮寺（一宮市）に、内田門と伝えられる城門が瑞泉寺（犬山市）に移築・現存しているほか、いくつかの城門が蓮善寺（一宮市）などに移築されて残っている。名鉄犬山線名鉄犬山駅または犬山遊園駅から徒歩約15分。◇白帝城(はくていじょう)、亀甲城ともよばれる。別称の白帝城は、古代中国の長江流域にあった白帝城を詠んだ李白の詩「早發白帝城」にちなんで、江戸時代に荻生徂徠(おぎゅうそらい)が命名したと伝えられている。

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