Tsu Castle, located in Tsu City, Mie Prefecture, was originally built by Hosono Fujiatsu in 1558 and was known as Anotsu Castle, named after the old region. The site was strategically chosen at the confluence of the Ano and Iwata Rivers, which naturally formed a moat around the castle, while the nearby port served as a vital trade route.
The castle, as it is now known, was established by Oda Nobukane, the younger brother of Oda Nobunaga, as a strategic base for the Oda clan's expansion into the Ise Peninsula. Nobukane constructed an impressive complex featuring the Honmaru, Ni-no-Maru, and San-no-Maru baileys, along with a five-story keep and a smaller sub-keep. In 1595, he handed control to the Tomita Clan, who held it for only five years.
During the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, Tomita Nobuhiro and his 1,300 samurai defended Tsu Castle against a combined force of 30,000 Western allies led by Mori Terumoto and Chosokabe Morichika. The castle was largely destroyed by fire. Despite the destruction, the Tomita were rewarded by Tokugawa Ieyasu and began reconstructing the castle until their transfer to Uwajima in 1608. Tsu Castle was then entrusted to Todo Takatora, a master castle architect.
Instead of restoring the original five-story keep, Takatora built two simpler, three-story yagura watchtowers, connected by single-story tamon-yagura that encircled the Honmaru. The castle featured two main masugata gate systems and was flanked by the Higashi-Maru and Nishi-no-Maru baileys, with the grand Ni-no-Maru Palace in the western section.
The decision not to rebuild an elaborate keep was influenced by the Tokugawa Shogunate's laws restricting castle expansions to prevent further conflicts. Additionally, Takatora, who had initially sided with the West at Sekigahara, likely avoided raising suspicions with his new ally, the shogun.
Takatora's descendants ruled Tsu Castle for 263 years until Japan's feudal system was abolished in 1871, leading to the castle's demolition. A corner yagura was reconstructed in concrete in 1958, with enhanced gables for aesthetic appeal.
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.
