| Takasaki Castle 高崎城 | |
|---|---|
| Takasaki,Gunma Prefecture,Japan | |
 Inui-yagura of Takasaki Castle | |
| Site information | |
| Type | flatland-styleJapanese castle |
| Open to the public | yes |
| Location | |
  Takasaki Castle 高崎城  Takasaki Castle 高崎城 | |
| Coordinates | 36°19′26.68″N139°0′15.26″E / 36.3240778°N 139.0042389°E /36.3240778; 139.0042389 |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1597 |
| Built by | Ii Naomasa |
| In use | Edo period |
| Demolished | 1872 |
Takasaki Castle (高崎城,Takasaki-jō) is aJapanese castle located inTakasaki, southernGunma Prefecture,Japan. At the end of theEdo period, Tatebayashi Castle was home to a branch of theMatsudaira clan,daimyō ofTakasaki Domain, but the castle was ruled by a large number of different clans over its history. The castle was also known as "Wada-jō" (和田城).
During the lateHeian period, the area around Takasaki was controlled by theWada clan, and Wada Yoshinobu built a fortified manor on the banks of the Karasu River. During theMuromachi period, the Wada came under the service of theUesugi clan, who held the post ofKantō kanrei; however in 1561, Wada Narishige, incensed over the appointment ofUesugi Kenshin to the post, defected to theTakeda clan. His son, Wada Nobunari, in turn came into the service of theOdawara Hōjō clan. During theBattle of Odawara in 1590,Toyotomi Hideyoshi dispatched an army led byUesugi Kagekatsu andMaeda Toshiie and destroyed Wada Castle.
AfterTokugawa Ieyasu took control over theKantō region in 1590, he assignedIi Naomasa, one of his most trustedFour Generals to nearbyMinowa Castle. However, in 1597, Ieyasu ordered Ii Naomasa to construct a new on the site of the ruins of Wada Castle, as the location controlled a strategic junction connecting theNakasendō with theMikuni Kaidō highways. Ii Naomasa relocated to the site in 1598, renaming it Takasaki. Naomasa bringing with him the population of Minowa to form the nucleus of a newcastle town. Following theBattle of Sekigahara in 1600, theIi clan was relocated toOmi Province, and Takasaki Castle passed to a succession offudai daimyō clans, notably theSakai,Andō and several branches of theMatsudaira clan. The Ōkōchi Matsudaira took up residence in 1695, and except for a brief hiatus from 1710-1717, remained in control of the castle until the end of theEdo period.
In 1619, Andō Shigenobu began an ambitious reconstruction project, which lasted for 77 years over the following three generations, which included a three-storydonjon in the center and two-storyyagura at each of the cardinal directions. ShōgunTokugawa Iemitsu exiled his younger brotherTokugawa Tadanaga to Takasaki Castle in 1633, and ordered him to commitseppuku here in December of the same year.
In 1873, following theMeiji restoration, most of the castle structures were destroyed or sold off, and the moats filled in. Prior the end ofWorld War II, most of the former castle grounds were occupied by the Takasaki-basedImperial Japanese Army's 15th Infantry Regiment.
The Takasaki city hall and city library are located on what was once part of the castle grounds. Of the surviving structures, one of the castle'syagura was in private hands until 1974, when it was purchased by Takasaki city and relocated to one of theyagura foundation bases in the Third Bailey. One of the surviving gates from the castle was under the same private ownership, and was likewise purchased and relocated back to the castle grounds in 1980. Theshōin where Tokugawa Tadanaga committed suicide is now located on the grounds of a nearby Buddhist temple, Chōshō-ji, where it serves as the priest's residence.
