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.
At first, Katsunari settled in Kannabe Castle, which had served as the main stronghold of the former province of Bungo. However, Kannabe was a typical mountain castle, from which it was difficult to effectively administer and control the lands granted to Katsunari. After obtaining permission from the shogunate, he moved his residence to the village of Nogami, since its coastal location offered significant strategic advantages. From there, it was convenient to keep watch over the subdued but potentially unreliable tozama daimyō in Hiroshima and Okayama, as well as to control the important transportation artery known as the San’yō Road.
Katsunari enjoyed full support from the Tokugawa house, including generous financial backing. As in the construction of Nijō Castle, the building of Fukuyama made extensive use of materials and entire structures from Fushimi Castle, which had once belonged to Toyotomi Hideyoshi and later to Tokugawa Ieyasu. In addition, materials from Kannabe Castle were also reused. This made it possible to construct a large-scale fortress in a relatively short period of time, despite the fact that construction was temporarily suspended in 1620 due to a major flood. The castle was finally completed in 1622.
On its northern side, the castle bordered the Komaru and Tenjin hills, while to the south it faced the Seto Inland Sea. Fukuyama was considered one of the most powerful castles of the Edo period. Its defensive system included seven three-story yagura towers, fifteen smaller towers, ten gates, and high stone walls (ishigaki) topped with earthen ramparts (dobei) or roofed corridors known as tamon-yagura.
Additional protection was provided by two moats, an outer and an inner one, which curved around the castle from the south. Water was supplied to the moats through a wide canal dug to connect them to the sea. The jōkamachi castle town that developed around the fortress was also incorporated into the overall defensive system.
After the shogunate issued the 1615 decree of “One province, one castle,” the construction of new main keeps (tenshu) required special permission, which is why many Edo-period castles lacked a central tower. Katsunari received such permission, indicating the high importance of Fukuyama to the Tokugawa shogunate. A five-tiered, six-story donjon was built in the northern part of the castle. It belonged to the fukugōshiki type, as a smaller auxiliary tower was attached to it.
The Mizuno clan ruled Fukuyama Castle and the Fukuyama Domain for five generations, until 1698. Since the last daimyō of the Mizuno line left no heirs, the domain came under the direct control of the shogunate. From 1700 to 1710, the domain was governed by Matsudaira Tadamasa, after which control of the castle was transferred to the Abe clan. Ten generations of the Abe clan held Fukuyama Castle until the Meiji government issued the decree for the dismantling of castles in 1873.
Between 1730 and 1750, part of the palace buildings of the main bailey, known as the honmaru goten, were relocated to the Abe clan’s residence in Edo. During the Bakumatsu period, in 1865, Abe Masakata, the ninth daimyō of the Fukuyama Domain, took part in the second punitive expedition against the Chōshū Domain. While preparations for this campaign were underway, a gunpowder explosion occurred in the Kushigata-yagura tower, causing a fire that destroyed the neighboring Yari-yagura and Teppō-yagura towers. During the Boshin War of 1868, the castle was attacked by imperial loyalist forces, but it did not suffer serious damage, as the Abe clan decided to side with the emperor.
After the abolition of the feudal domain system and the issuance of the castle dismantlement decree, most of Fukuyama Castle’s buildings were sold off to local residents and taken apart. The outer moat was filled in and built over, and in 1891 a railway station was constructed on the site of the inner moat.
Nevertheless, some structures of the main bailey, including the donjon, escaped demolition. They came under the ownership of the city and later the prefecture. In 1897, at the request of local residents, the buildings, which had fallen into disrepair by that time, were repaired at the prefecture’s expense.
With the enactment of the 1929 Law for the Preservation of National Treasures, several surviving structures received official protected status: the tenshu donjon was designated a National Treasure in 1931, while the Fushimi-yagura tower, the Sujigane-gomon gate, and the Goyūdono bathhouse received the same status in 1933. In 1936, the entire castle complex within the boundaries of the former main bailey was designated a National Historic Site.
However, a large portion of the structures that had survived the Meiji era, including the donjon, were destroyed during the bombing by American aircraft on August 8, 1945.
Only two structures of the second bailey, the ninomaru, have survived to the present day in their original form: the Fushimi-yagura tower and the Sujigane-gomon gate, both of which had originally been transferred from Fushimi Castle. Under the new 1950 Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties, they were designated Important Cultural Properties and underwent major restoration work in 1952–1953.
In 1964, the castle complex within the boundaries of the main bailey (honmaru) and the second bailey (ninomaru) was once again designated a National Historic Site. For this purpose, the land of the ninomaru, which had previously been occupied by private buildings, was purchased.
In 1966, to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Fukuyama’s designation as a city, several structures of the main bailey were reconstructed, including the donjon, the Tsukimi-yagura tower, and the Goyūdono bathhouse.
The donjon was rebuilt in reinforced concrete and takes the form of a five-tiered, six-story tower with an attached structure. Although its overall appearance resembles the prewar version, the reconstructed donjon is not an exact replica of the original.
In 1973, the Kagami-yagura, or Mirror Tower, was reconstructed, followed in 1979 by the Shōrō bell tower.
In 2022, the 400th anniversary of the completion of the historic Fukuyama Castle, the authorities carried out a major renovation of the reconstructed donjon, significantly altering its external appearance. The most notable change was the covering of the north side of the tower with black iron panels.
The northern side of the castle had traditionally been considered the most vulnerable, and for that reason the donjon had originally been reinforced with such armor panels specifically on its northern face. This type of one-sided armoring was not found in any other Japanese castle. Only a single photograph of Fukuyama Castle from the north side, taken in 1891, has survived, showing these panels; they are believed to have been added in the late Edo period.
In 2006, Fukuyama Castle was included by the Japan Castle Foundation (Nihon Jōkaku Kyōkai) in its list of the “100 Fine Castles of Japan.” The castle is also known by the names Hisamatsu and Iyo.
See also
-
Kaminoyama Castle
Kamino-yama Castle stood at the center of an important logistics hub, in the middle of the Yonezawa Plain, which served as the gateway to the western part of the Tohoku region. Roads connecting the Aizu, Fukushima, and Yamagata areas intersected here.
-
Imabari Castle
Tōdō Takatora (1556–1630) served at different times as a vassal of several famous clans—Azai, Oda, Toyotomi, and Tokugawa. He took part in the Battle of Anegawa (1570), the Battle of Shizugatake (1583), the invasions of Kyushu and Korea, the Sekigahara campaign (1600), and the Siege of Osaka (1614–1615).
-
Iwakuni Castle
Kikkawa Hiroie (1561–1625) was the grandson of the famous daimyo Mori Motonari and a vassal of the Mori clan. Under Mori Terumoto, he fought in both Korean campaigns and took part in the defense of Ulsan Castle. During the Battle of Sekigahara, Hiroie stood with his 3,000-man force on the side of the Western Coalition; however, even before the battle began, he sent Tokugawa Ieyasu a secret message stating that he did not intend to fight Tokugawa’s troops. As a result of his inaction, 15,000 soldiers under Mori Hidemoto were also unable to enter the battle, since Hiroie blocked their path.
-
Gujo Hachiman Castle
Gujo Hachiman Castle is located on 350-meter Mount Hachiman, near the confluence of the Yoshidagawa and Kodaragava rivers, and not far from the Nagaragawa River. During the Sengoku period, this area was of great strategic importance: it stood at a key crossroads of routes connecting Mino Province in the south with the Sea of Japan in the north, and Hida Province in the east with Echizen Province in the west.
-
Amagasaki Castle
The founding year of Amagasaki Castle is traditionally considered to be 1617, when Toda Ujikané built his castle here, making it the administrative center of the Amagasaki Domain. However, as early as the Sengoku period, a fortress built by the Hosokawa clan already stood on this site. After the fall of Itami Castle in 1579, Araki Murashige—formerly a vassal of Oda Nobunaga who had rebelled against him—fled to this earlier castle.
-
Hiroshima Castle
Mōri Terumoto (1553–1625) was the grandson and rightful heir of the renowned Mōri Motonari. When Terumoto became the head of the Mōri clan in 1571, he inherited vast territories covering a large part of the San’in and San’yō regions in western Honshū. In addition, the Mōri clan possessed the largest and most technologically advanced naval fleet of its time.
-
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.
-
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.
