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| Aoba Castle 青葉城 | |
|---|---|
| Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan | |
 Reconstructedwakiyagura of Aoba Castle | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Hilltop-styleJapanese castle |
| Open to the public | yes |
| Location | |
  Aoba Castle 青葉城  Aoba Castle 青葉城 | |
| Coordinates | 38°15′09″N140°51′22″E / 38.252478°N 140.856156°E /38.252478; 140.856156 |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1601 |
| Built by | Date Masamune |
| In use | Edo period |
Aoba Castle (青葉城,Aoba-jō) is aJapanese castle located inSendai, Miyagi Prefecture. Throughout theEdo period, Aoba Castle was home to theDate clan,daimyō ofSendai Domain. The castle was also known asSendai-jō (仙台城) or asGojō-rō (五城楼). In 2003, the castle ruins were designated aNational Historic Site.[1]
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Aoba Castle is located on a plateau overlooking the city ofSendai, on the opposing bank of the Hirose river. The site is protected by cliffs to the south and east and by a forest to the west. This forest was strictly guarded in theEdo period and is a rare survivor of the original virgin forests ofHonshū. The area is now managed as a botanical garden byTohoku University.
The castle hill is partially surrounded by the Hirose river to the north and east, and a steep slope protects the south. Thehonmaru (innerbailey) is about 115 meters high and is a roughly square-shaped area 250 meters long surrounded by stone walls, in some places 15 meters high. It contained the foundation for thetenshu, (equivalent to themain keep ofEuropean castles); however, only the foundation base was ever built. Instead, thehonmaru was protected by four three-storyyagura. Thedaimyō residence within thehonmaru was built in the flamboyantMomoyama style, and contemporaries compared it withToyotomi Hideyoshi's legendaryJurakudai Palace in Kyoto. North of thehonmaru was theni-no-maru (second bailey) and thesan-no-maru (third bailey), followed by an area containing the residences of the highestsamurai officials of the domain. Theni-no-maru was used for both governmental functions and was the location of the main residence of thedaimyō. Thehonmaru was reserved only for certain ceremonial functions. A bridge across the Hirose river led to thehigashi-no-maru (east bailey), which also had theōte-mon (main gate) of the castle.
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The location of Aoba Castle, a small hill calledMount Aoba, was the site of a fortified residence of a branch of the Shimazu clan, the nominalkokushi ofMutsu Province from the earlyKamakura period. In theMuromachi period, it was controlled by thejizamurai Kokubun clan, which was in turn destroyed by theDate clan.
Following theBattle of Sekigahara in 1601, the area was visited byTokugawa Ieyasu, who renamed Mount Aoba "Sendai". The firstdaimyō of Sendai domain,Date Masamune, began construction of the castle with theinner bailey andsan-no-maru bailey at the base of the hill. Work on the castle, including thesan-no-maru bailey and numerous gates, was completed byDate Tadamune in 1637.
After completion, the castle served as the headquarters of the Date clan and administrative center of Mutsu Province under theTokugawa shogunate.
The castle was destroyed repeatedly by earthquakes and fires, notably in 1616, 1648, 1668, and 1710. More than six major earthquakes occurred between 1710 and 1868, but there is no record of major damage.
During theBakumatsu period, the castle was one of the nerve centers of theŌuetsu Reppan Dōmei during theBoshin War, asDate Yoshikuni was leader of the pro-Tokugawa alliance. Taken over by theMeiji government in the aftermath of Sendai's surrender, it was partially dismantled in the 1870s, and the grounds were given over to theImperial Japanese Army, who used it as the base for the Sendai Garrison (later theIJA 2nd Division). A large fire in 1882 destroyed many of the remaining structures of the castle.
In 1902, aShintoGokoku shrine (護国神社,Gokoku-jinja) honoring the war dead was established. In 1931, two of the few remaining structures of the castle, theomotemon gate and thewakiyagura tower, were designated asNational Treasures by the Japanese government. However, these structures and all else in the castle were destroyed completely on 10 July 1945 by the United States during theBombing of Sendai during World War II.
During theoccupation of Japan, the castle site came under the control of theUnited States Army, which razed any remaining Edo period-structures. It was returned to Japan in 1957. In 1961, theSendai City Museum was built on the site of thesan-no-maru enclosure. Over the following decades, the stone base, a few walls, and some wooden structures have been rebuilt to increase the tourist potential of the site, and in 2006, Aoba Castle was designated one of the100 Fine Castles of Japan.
100 Fine Castles of Japan by region | ||
|---|---|---|
| Hokkaido | .svg) | |
| Tōhoku | ||
| Kantō | ||
| Chūbu | ||
| Kansai | ||
| Chūgoku | ||
| Shikoku | ||
| Kyūshūa | ||
a includingOkinawa. | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| Other | |
