During the Kamakura period, Sabo Tokitsuna, the sixth son of Sasaki Sadatsuna, built a fort on Mount Sawayama. This fort occupied a strategically important position because it allowed control over traffic along the important Tōsandō route, which was later known as Nakasendō. This road connected the capital, Kyoto, with the eastern regions of the country. Due to its location, the fortification held great military importance, and during periods of civil war it repeatedly became the site of fierce battles.
Over time, the Sasaki clan split into two factions—Kyōgoku and Rokkaku. After this division, Sawayama Castle became a border fortress of the Rokkaku faction. When the Rokkaku clan declined, the territory and the castle came under the control of the Azai clan. The Azai strengthened and significantly expanded the existing fort, transforming it into a typical mountain castle of the early Sengoku Jidai period. In 1570, after the Battle of Anegawa, Oda Nobunaga attacked and captured Sawayama Castle. Afterward, Niwa Nagahide was appointed as the castle’s commander.
After the death of Oda Nobunaga in 1582, the castle passed to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who in 1590 transferred it to his vassal Ishida Mitsunari. Mitsunari undertook a reconstruction of the castle and significantly modernized it by adding the most advanced fortification features of the time. As a result of these works, Sawayama gained stone walls known as ishigaki as well as a main keep, or tenshu.
At the summit of the mountain stood the main enclosure, the honmaru, next to which was the western enclosure called Nishikuruwa. Other enclosures descended in terraces down the slope below. At the foot of the mountain, Mitsunari built his residence, which was protected by a water-filled moat known as a mizubori.
During the Sekigahara campaign in 1600, Sawayama Castle was attacked and captured by the forces of Tokugawa Ieyasu. According to legend, Ieyasu hated Mitsunari so much that after the victory he ordered the castle to be completely demolished and leveled to the ground. As a result, even the stone walls were destroyed and the earthen ramparts, known as dorui, were torn down.
After these events, Ieyasu granted the lands around the former castle to his general Ii Naomasa as a reward for his assistance in the Battle of Sekigahara. Naomasa intended to rebuild the castle, but his plans were interrupted by his death. He died in 1602 from wounds he had received during the same Battle of Sekigahara. His son, Ii Naotsugu, obtained permission to move the construction site of a new castle closer to Lake Biwa. Once he received that permission, he began building the new Hikone Castle in 1603. Some parts of Sawayama Castle—mainly elements from the outer enclosures that had not been heavily damaged—were used in the construction of Hikone Castle.
Today, because Ieyasu’s order was carried out so thoroughly, almost nothing of the castle remains. Only traces of earthworks have survived. At the top of the mountain, one can still find the remains of moats and ramparts, as well as the leveled platforms of the kuruwa enclosures.
See also
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Nadzima Castle
It is believed that the first structures on this site were built by Tachibana Akitoshi (?-1568), head of the Tachibana clan, a branch family of the Ōtomo clan, as auxiliary fortifications for Tachibanayama Castle. In 1587, Toyotomi Hideyoshi established control over the island of Kyushu and granted Chikuzen Province to Kobayakawa Takakage, one of the leading vassals of the Mori clan. Takakage began construction of a new castle on the site of the existing fortifications in 1588. The exact date of completion is unknown, but by the time the invasion of Korea began in 1592, the castle had already been finished, as records note that Toyotomi Hideyoshi stayed there overnight on his way to Hizen Nagoya Castle, which served as the headquarters of the invasion forces.
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Kubota Castle
The founder of the castle is considered to be Satake Yoshinobu (1570–1633). Yoshinobu was one of the six great generals of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. During the Odawara Campaign of 1590, he took part in the siege of Oshi Castle under the command of Ishida Mitsunari, with whom Yoshinobu developed a good relationship.
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Kavanhoe Castle
Kawanoe Castle is located on the small Wasi-yama hill near the port area of the Kawanoe district in the city of Shikokuchuo, occupying a central position along the northern coast of Shikoku Island. Kawanoe was also known as Butsuden Castle. The term “butsuden” in Japan refers to temple halls, and for this reason it is believed that a Buddhist temple once stood on the site before the castle was built. Due to its location at the junction of four provinces on Shikoku Island, Kawanoe held significant strategic importance and was repeatedly targeted by rival forces seeking military control over the region.
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Yokote Castle
The founder of the castle is considered to be the Onodera clan. The Onodera were originally a minor clan from Shimotsuke Province and served Minamoto no Yoritomo (1147–1199), the founder of the first shogunate. The Onodera distinguished themselves in battle against the Fujiwara clan of the Ōshū branch and were rewarded with lands around Yokote. Around the 14th century, the Onodera moved to Yokote as their permanent residence. Their original stronghold was Numadate Castle, but after a series of clashes with the powerful Nambu clan, they relocated their base to the site of present-day Yokote Castle. It was likely during this time that the first fortifications appeared at the castle.
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Wakayama Castle
Wakayama Castle was built in 1585, when Toyotomi Hideyoshi ordered his uterine brother, Hashiba (Toyotomi) Hidenaga, to construct a castle on the site of the recently captured Ota Castle. The purpose of this construction was to secure control over the likewise newly conquered Province of Kii. Following an already established tradition, Hidenaga entrusted the project to his castle-building expert, Todo Takatora. Takatora carefully inspected the future castle site, personally drew up several designs, created a model of the planned castle, and took part in the work of laying out the grounds (nawabari). For the construction he brought in more than 10,000 workers and completed the large-scale project within a single year, which was considered extremely fast by the standards of the time.
Toyama Castle
Toyama Castle is located almost in the very center of the former province of Etchū and is surrounded by a wide plain with a large number of rivers. The very first castle on the banks of the Jinzu River was built in 1543 by Jimbo Nagamoto. The Jimbo clan were vassals of the Hatakeyama clan and governed the western part of Etchū Province. The eastern part of the province belonged to their rivals, the Shiina clan, who were also Hatakeyama vassals. Beginning in the 15th century, the influence of the ancient Hatakeyama clan gradually weakened, and as a result, the Jimbo and the Shiina fought constant wars for control of the province. Meanwhile, the forces of the Ikkō-ikki movement periodically intervened, helping first one side and then the other.
Takada Castle
During the Sengoku period, the lands where Takada Castle would later be built were part of Echigo Province and were controlled by the Uesugi clan.
Kishiwada Castle
The celebrated 14th-century military commander Kusunoki Masashige (1294–1336), who owned extensive lands south of what is now the city of Osaka, ordered one of his vassals, Kishiwada Osamu, to build a fortified residence. This order was carried out around 1336. These fortifications became the first structures on the site of what would later become Kishiwada Castle. From the beginning, the castle stood in a strategically important location—roughly halfway between the cities of Wakayama and Osaka, south of the key port of Sakai. Because of this position, it changed hands several times during periods of warfare.
