Marugame is part of the so-called “Authentic Dozen,” a group of twelve castles whose donjons have survived to the present day without major reconstructions since the Edo period.
After Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s forces conquered the island of Shikoku in 1587, Sanuki Province was granted to Ikoma Chikamasa (1526–1603). He initially settled in Hiketa Castle, but its location at the far eastern edge of the province made it difficult to govern all of Sanuki. For this reason, in 1590 Chikamasa built a new residence, Takamatsu Castle, located farther west along the coast.
In 1597, Marugame Castle was constructed on Mount Kameyama, a hill about 66 meters high, approximately 30 kilometers west of Takamatsu. After the construction was completed, Chikamasa moved there, appointing his son as the castellan of Takamatsu Castle.
During the Sekigahara Campaign in 1600, Chikamasa supported the Western Coalition, but at the same time he sent his son, Ikoma Kazumasa, to fight on the side of Tokugawa Ieyasu. As a result of the Eastern Coalition’s victory, the Ikoma clan retained its rights to Sanuki Province. During this period, Chikamasa once again moved to Takamatsu Castle. In 1615, in accordance with the Tokugawa shogunate’s decree of “one province, one castle,” Marugame Castle was abandoned. Today, only partially preserved stone walls on the eastern slope of the hill remain as reminders of this stage in the castle’s history.
In 1640, a conflict broke out within the Ikoma clan, prompting intervention by the Tokugawa shogunate, after which the Ikoma holdings were confiscated. The following year, these lands were granted to Yamazaki Ieharu (1594–1648), who was known as a capable administrator and castle builder. He received them in part as a reward for his achievements during the reconstruction of Osaka Castle and for his participation in suppressing the Shimabara Rebellion.
Although the Yamazaki clan was small and largely unknown, it was renowned for its talented fortification architects, who were considered on par with figures such as Kato Kiyomasa and Todo Takatora. Castles built by the Yamazaki, including Wakasa Oniga, Nariwa, and Tomioka, impressed contemporaries with the scale and strength of their stone structures.
After gaining control of Sanuki Province, the Yamazaki clan decided to construct a well-fortified castle on the site of the ruins of Marugame. Ieharu built some of the tallest stone walls in Japan at the time and also promoted the development of the castle town.
In 1657, the Yamazaki clan lost Sanuki Province because it was left without an heir. The remaining members of the clan were relocated to Nariwa Castle, which had previously belonged to them. The following year, the Kyogoku clan was transferred to Marugame from Tatsuno Castle. Earlier, this clan had served as governors of Wakasa Province with their seat at Obama Castle, and in 1634 they were moved to Matsue Castle. In 1637, the Kyogoku clan also found itself without an heir and was demoted, after which it was relocated to Tatsuno with a reduced income. After settling in Marugame, the Kyogoku clan undertook a large-scale reconstruction of the castle. The donjon that has survived to the present day was built in 1660. The complete reconstruction of the castle complex was finished by 1670, and in the same year the masugata gate complex of the Otemon, which still survives today, was constructed.
The castle is arranged on three levels. At the top of the hill were the main bailey, the honmaru, and the second bailey, the ninomaru. Below them lay the third bailey, the sannomaru, and farther down was the outer bailey, which was surrounded by water-filled moats. The total area of the castle grounds was approximately 500,000 square meters.
The upper half of the hill is completely reinforced with ishigaki stone walls, giving it the appearance of a stone pyramid. In some sections, the height of these walls exceeds 20 meters.
The tenshu donjon is located in the northern part of the main bailey and takes the form of a tower with three tiers and three floors. It belongs to the simplest dokuritsushiki type, as it has no additional attached structures.
The Kyogoku clan ruled the castle until the end of the Edo period. In 1869, a fire destroyed several towers. In 1871, in line with the policies of the new Meiji government, the castle was abandoned and transferred to the Japanese army. In 1877, many of the structures were dismantled, and only the donjon and the Ote Ichinomon and Ote Ninomom gates have survived to the present day. All three structures are designated as Important Cultural Properties.
In 1919, the upper part of the hill was purchased by the city of Marugame, and Kameyama Park was opened there. In 1943, the castle’s donjon was designated a “National Treasure” under the old Law for the Protection of National Treasures. In 1950, the donjon was dismantled, restored, and reassembled. In 2006, the Japan Castle Foundation (Nihon Jokaku Kyokai) included Marugame Castle on its list of the “100 Fine Castles of Japan.” The castle grounds are designated a National Historic Site. Marugame Castle is also known by the names Kameyama and Horai.
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.
