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.
In the early 16th century, during internal conflicts within the Hosokawa clan, the castle repeatedly became a battlefield and suffered from the fires that accompanied these clashes. This is evidenced by the results of archaeological excavations, which revealed layers of burned earth dating to this period, as well as the remains of wooden structures that had been charred into charcoal. After each such episode of destruction, the castle was rebuilt once again.
In 1557, Ikeda Katsumasa confronted the forces of the Oda clan. After the capture of the castle in 1558, Oda Nobunaga highly praised Katsumasa’s abilities, made him one of his vassals with an income of 60,000 koku of rice, and allowed him to retain Ikeda Castle. Katsumasa subsequently strengthened and rebuilt the castle, making use of the plans and ideas provided by Nobunaga.
In 1570, Araki Murashige rose in rebellion against the Ikeda clan. Initially, he had served as a vassal of Ikeda Katsumasa and became a member of the Ikeda family by marrying the daughter of Ikeda Nagamasa. Later, however, Murashige aligned himself with the Miyoshi clan, organized a revolt, expelled Katsumasa, and seized power within the Ikeda clan. Although he was considered a supporter of Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki, in 1571 he sided with Oda Nobunaga in Nobunaga’s conflict with the shogun. In 1574, Murashige took part in suppressing the uprising of Itami Tadataka in Kawachi Province, besieged Itami Castle, and captured it. As a reward for this victory, Nobunaga granted the castle to Murashige, and around the same time the castle was renamed Arioka.
After Murashige moved to Arioka Castle, Ikeda Castle was almost no longer used. Nevertheless, in 1578 Murashige defected to the rebel Ikkō-ikki, and during the siege of Arioka Castle by Oda forces, Ikeda Castle served as the headquarters of the punitive expedition. After the fall of Arioka Castle in 1579, Ikeda Castle was permanently abandoned and ceased to be used.
In 1989, large-scale archaeological investigations were carried out on the castle ruins, leading to the discovery of remains of fortifications and various artifacts dating to the Sengoku period.
In 2000, the ruins were turned into Ikedashiroato Park. Earthen rampart walls (dobei), several types of gates, and a mihari-no-yagura watchtower were reconstructed. Towers of this type are considered predecessors of the tenshu donjons of later periods. At the same time, this tower is a notional, “fake” reconstruction, since according to surviving descriptions and excavation materials, no such structure actually existed on the grounds of the historical castle.
Overall, the reconstructed buildings represent a clear and high-quality example of the fortifications of a typical early to mid–Sengoku period castle, even though they are not directly tied to the historical Ikeda Castle itself. In addition, the site features a beautiful garden with a pond inhabited by carp and turtles, which also attracts visitors.
See also
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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.
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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).
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
