Ogaki Castle, located in Ogaki City, Gifu Prefecture, was originally built around 1500 by Miyakawa Yasusada and named Ushiya Castle due to the Ushiya River serving as a natural moat. The castle was also known as Bi Castle and Kyoroku Castle. The Ogaki region held strategic importance as a transit point between Mino and Omi Provinces, a fact recognized by Saito Dosan, the Viper of Mino. When Oda Nobunaga captured Gifu Castle in 1567, Ogaki Castle came under Oda rule. Both Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi understood the strategic significance of the castle. In 1595, Hideyoshi ordered Ito Sukemori to expand the castle and construct the Tenshu keep.
Interestingly, Ogaki Castle featured four moats and a four-story keep, an unusual design since the number four (shi) is phonetically similar to the word for death, making it an unlucky number. To avoid the ominous connotation, the first floor was considered a base floor, and the "tower" was said to stand three stories high. Ogaki Castle was rumored to have been coated in lacquer over its whitewashed walls.
Ogaki Castle played a significant role in the Battle of Sekigahara, serving as the gathering site for Western forces under Ishida Mitsunari before being outmaneuvered by Eastern forces. Tokugawa Ieyasu had initially considered laying siege to Ogaki and even planned to flood the castle by damming the nearby Ibi and Kuise rivers. However, this approach would have been both time-consuming and costly. Instead, Ieyasu spread rumors that he would turn back through Sekigahara to capture Ishida Mitsunari's fief, Sawayama, and then attack Toyotomi Hideyori in Osaka Castle. This strategy lured Ishida Mitsunari and his forces out of Ogaki on the night of October 20, 1600. They marched 14 kilometers to Sekigahara under cover of darkness and rain, leading to the largest samurai battle in history the next morning.
Ogaki Castle was governed by three generations of the Ishikawa clan, followed by two generations of the Matsudaira (Hisamatsu) clan, two lords from the Abe clan, and then a single Matsudaira, before being handed over to the fudai daimyo Toda clan in 1635. The Toda clan controlled Ogaki for 12 generations until the Meiji Restoration. Outside the castle grounds, in front of the Tenshu, stands a statue of Toda Ujikane, the first Toda lord of Ogaki, dressed in armor and mounted on a horse.
Ogaki Castle's historical significance and survival from complete destruction during the Meiji period led to its designation as a National Treasure in 1936. However, it was destroyed by wartime aerial bombing raids nine years later. The castle was reconstructed in April 1959 using concrete and now houses a collection of items related to the castle and the Battle of Sekigahara. Parts of the outer moat are still visible, and from the air, the tree-lined canals' large square shape stands out among the urban landscape.
Interestingly, one of Ogaki Castle's gates now exists in Kakamigahara City, having been purchased and relocated when much of the castle was abandoned and demolished during the Meiji Period. Another gate was relocated to serve as the main gate for the Heirin-So Temple in Ogaki. Among Japan's castles, only four can be faithfully reconstructed, and Ogaki Castle is one of them, raising the possibility that it may someday be restored to its original wooden state.
See also
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Nagoya Castle
Nagoya Castle, originally built by the Owari Domain in 1612 during the Edo period, stands on the site of an earlier Oda clan castle from the Sengoku period. It became the centerpiece of Nagoya-juku, a significant castle town on the Minoji road, which connected two major Edo Five Routes: the Tokaido and the Nakasendo. In 1930, ownership of the castle was transferred to the city by the Imperial Household Ministry, establishing it as the focal point of modern Nagoya. Although partially destroyed in the Pacific War in 1945, the castle has undergone continuous restoration and preservation efforts since 1957.
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Matsushiro Castle
Matsushiro Castle, originally known as Kaizu Castle, is located in what was once Matsushiro town, now part of Nagano City. The site is recognized as a National Historic Site of Japan. Situated on the northern Shinano flatlands between the Chikuma River and a former riverbed that serves as a natural outer moat to the north, the castle and its surrounding town were prone to flooding due to their location.
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Fushimi Castle
Fushimi Castle, also known as Momoyama Castle or Fushimi-Momoyama Castle, is located in Fushimi Ward, Kyoto. Originally built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi between 1592 and 1594 as his retirement residence, the castle was destroyed by the 1596 Keichō–Fushimi earthquake and later rebuilt. However, it was demolished again in 1623, and its site now houses the tomb of Emperor Meiji. A replica of the castle was constructed nearby in 1964.
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Odawara Castle
Odawara Castle, located in the city of Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, is a reconstructed historical site with roots dating back to the Kamakura period (1185–1333). The current donjon (main keep) was rebuilt using reinforced concrete in 1960 on the stone foundation of the original structure, which was dismantled between 1870 and 1872 during the Meiji Restoration.
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Shinpu Castle
Shinpu Castle was a Japanese hirayama-style fortress from the Sengoku period, situated in what is now Nirasaki, Yamanashi Prefecture. It served as the main stronghold of warlord Takeda Katsuyori. Designated as a National Historic Site in 1973, the castle occupies a strategic position on a mountain with steep cliffs, overlooking the Kamanashi River to the west of Kofu, where Takeda Shingen’s Tsutsujigasaki Castle once stood.
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Takato Castle
Takato Castle, located in the city of Ina in southern Nagano Prefecture, Japan, was a notable stronghold during the Sengoku period. By the end of the Edo period, it was the residence of a cadet branch of the Naito clan, the daimyo of the Takato Domain. Also known as Kabuto Castle, it was originally constructed in the 16th century and is now mostly in ruins.
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Takatenjin Castle
Takatenjin Castle was a yamashiro-style fortress from Japan's Sengoku period, situated in the Kamihijikata and Shimohijikata districts of Kakegawa, Shizuoka Prefecture. Designated a National Historic Site in 1975, with an expanded protected area in 2007, its ruins remain a significant historical landmark.
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Yoshida Castle
Yoshida Castle is renowned worldwide, particularly through the intricate woodblock prints by Edo Period artist Hiroshige. His famous series, depicting the 53 stages of the Tokaido—the historic route between Kyoto and Edo (modern-day Tokyo)—includes the 34th print, which shows workmen repairing a castle overlooking a wooden bridge crossing a wide river. This scene captures the Toyokawa River at Toyohashi in southeast Aichi Prefecture, and the castle is Yoshida Castle.
