The history of Edo Castle dates back to the Heian period, when the Edo clan built a small fort on this site. In 1457, the vassal of the Uesugi clan, Ota Dokan (1432–1486), constructed a full-scale castle here. Internal conflicts weakened the Uesugi clan, and in 1524, Ota Dokan’s grandson, Ota Yasutaka, surrendered the castle without resistance to the forces of Hojo Soun, the ambitious leader of the Hojo clan. While Odawara Castle remained the clan's main stronghold, Edo was considered a key strategic fortress.
Tokugawa Ieyasu, whose ancestral lands were located in what is now Shizuoka, controlled vast territories by the end of the 16th century. In 1590, after Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s victory over the Hojo clan, Ieyasu was ordered to exchange his five provinces for eight underdeveloped ones in the Kanto region. Though the land was fertile, it was economically backward at the time. Ieyasu chose Edo as his new base of power.
At that time, Edo was a small provincial town. With characteristic determination, Ieyasu began transforming not only the castle but the entire surrounding area. Using a revolutionary approach to urban planning, he quickly turned Edo into the political and social center of Japan. The castle, at the heart of the city, became the largest in the world during its time.
Following his victory at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 and his appointment as shogun in 1603, Ieyasu declared Edo the new capital of Japan. This marked the beginning of the Tokugawa shogunate and an era that would last over 250 years.
In the early 17th century, the castle underwent significant expansion. The Kitano-maru compound was added to the north, and Nishinomaru expanded westward. The central keep (tenshukaku) was constructed in 1607, likely with the help of castle expert daimyo Todo Takatora. After Tokugawa’s final victory over Toyotomi Hideyori in 1615, a massive reconstruction began, involving nearly all of Japan’s major daimyo. Around 300,000 workers were reportedly employed to enhance the castle's defenses, including raising walls to 20–30 meters, altering the Kanda River's course, and building a new central keep in 1622.
Under the third shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu (1604–1651), the castle reached its final form. A 15-kilometer-long outer moat was dug, walls were reinforced, and numerous gates and towers were constructed. In 1638, the central keep was rebuilt as a five-story tower on a tall stone base, with copper roofing and black-painted walls.
The castle was divided into several enclosures, including designated areas for daimyo residences, in accordance with the sankin-kotai policy. These compounds were separated by thick stone walls and deep moats. In the main compound, hommaru, stood the hommaru-goten palace, consisting of three sections: the Ooku (shogun’s living quarters and women's quarters), Chuoku (used for daily affairs and meetings), and Omote (reception area and administrative offices). A smaller palace, ninomaru-goten, was located in the second compound, used when fires damaged the main palace. Both palaces were destroyed by fire in 1873 and never rebuilt.
In 1657, a massive fire in Edo destroyed much of the castle, including the central keep. In 1712, historian and politician Arai Hakuseki proposed rebuilding the keep, but the plan was abandoned. It was never reconstructed.
The Tokugawa clan ruled from Edo Castle for 15 generations until the Meiji Restoration. The castle was lost following their defeat in the Boshin War. Many structures were later damaged by earthquakes and U.S. air raids during World War II.
Today, part of the former castle grounds serves as the residence of the Emperor of Japan and is closed to the public. However, the Higashi Gyoen (East Garden) and hommaru remain open to visitors, where one can see the impressive stone base of the former central keep.
Visitors can still admire original ishigaki stone walls and reconstructed towers. The stones were placed without mortar, a technique that helped the walls survive the devastating Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923.
At its height, Edo Castle had more than 20 towers. None have survived in original form. Three that withstood earlier conflicts were destroyed in the 1923 quake. They were initially rebuilt in concrete but later reconstructed using traditional materials and Meiji-era plans.
The most famous tower, Fujimi-yagura ("Mt. Fuji-view tower"), built in 1659 in the hommaru enclosure, served as a symbolic replacement for the lost central keep. On clear days, Mt. Fuji can be seen from this tower.
Nearby stands a preserved section of covered corridors that once connected towers atop the stone walls, allowing for protected movement and storage. This section is called Fujimitamon-yagura.
In the sannomaru compound, visitors can see the two-story corner tower Tatsumi-yagura (also known as Sakurada-yagura). In the Nishinomaru area stands Fushimi-yagura, a two-story tower with an adjacent one-story tamonyagura. It is believed to have been built using materials from the dismantled Fushimi Castle.
In addition to towers and walls, several original and reconstructed gates and bridges remain of interest. Three tower-style gates (yaguramon) are designated Important Cultural Properties: Soto Sakurada (1617), Tayasu (1636), and Shimizu (1658). Most gates feature the classic masugata barbican layout, comprising a tower gate, a simpler koraimon gate, and a killing ground between them.
The former main gate, Otemon, now serves as the entrance to the Imperial Palace and is accessed via the beautiful Seimon Ishibashi, a stone bridge rebuilt during the Meiji era.
In 2006, the Japan Castle Foundation (Nihon Jokaku Kyokai) included Edo Castle in its list of the "100 Fine Castles of Japan." The entire site has been designated a "Special Historic Site."
See also
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Fukuyama Castle
After the defeat of Toyotomi Hideyori’s supporters in the Osaka Campaigns of 1614–1615, many clans in Japan still remained not fully loyal to the Tokugawa shogunate, especially in the western Chūgoku region. Mizuno Katsunari (1564–1651), a cousin of Tokugawa Ieyasu, became the first of the Tokugawa house’s close retainers, the so-called fudai daimyō, to be relocated to this strategically important area.
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Tiba Castle
The founder of the Chiba clan is considered to be Chiba Tsunesige (1083–1180), who in 1126 moved his residence to the Inohana area and built a strongly fortified stronghold there. Although Tsunesige himself came from the Taira clan, the Chiba clan later supported Minamoto no Yoritomo, the future founder of the first shogunate.
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Sunomata Castle
Oda Nobunaga, as part of his “final solution” to the conflict with the Saitō clan, conceived the construction of a fort in the Sunomata area, which was intended to serve as a forward base for an attack on Inabayama Castle (later renamed Gifu). Sunomata was a swampy area located between Ogaki Castle, a stronghold of the Oda clan, and Inabayama, the main fortress of the Saitō clan. Earlier attempts to build fortifications in this area, carried out by Oda generals Sakuma Nobumori and Shibata Katsuie, had all ended in failure. After that, the task was entrusted to the young vassal Kinoshita Tokichirō, who later became known as Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
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Shibata Castle
The exact time when structures first appeared on the site of the present-day castle is unknown; however, it is generally believed that the first fortified buildings were constructed here during the Muromachi period, when these lands were controlled by the Shibata clan.
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Okayama Castle
According to a number of accounts, the earliest fortifications on the site of present-day Okayama Castle appeared as early as the 14th century and were built by the Nawa clan. The Asahigawa River was used as a natural defensive barrier, protecting one side of the fortifications.
In the early 16th century, the Kanamitsu clan constructed a new castle here, which at the time was known as Ishiyama. In 1573, it came under the control of the Ukita clan, after which Ukita Naoie (1529–1582) launched large-scale reconstruction efforts. He did not live to see the work completed, and construction was continued by his son Hideie. -
Nagahama Castle
Hashiba, later known as Toyotomi Hideyoshi, received Odani Castle and the surrounding lands from Oda Nobunaga after the defeat of the Azai clan. However, Odani Castle was located high in the mountains, which made it poorly suited for the effective administration of the territory. For this reason, in 1575 Hideyoshi began constructing a new castle in the village of Imahama on the shore of Lake Biwa. Taking the character naga from Nobunaga’s name, he renamed both the village and the new castle Nagahama.
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Kokura Castle
Kokura Castle is traditionally considered to have been founded by Hosokawa Tadaoki (1563–1645), although by the time the Hosokawa clan came to control these lands, the fortification had already existed since at least 1569 and was most likely built by members of the Mori clan.
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Ikeda Castle
In 1334, Ikeda Noriyoshi built a small fort on this site, which over time was repeatedly expanded and rebuilt. During the Ōnin War of 1467–1477, the Ikeda clan supported the Western Coalition. As a result, Ikeda Castle was attacked and captured by the forces of the Eastern Coalition, but it was soon recaptured, allowing it to avoid serious destruction.
