| Yonezawa Castle 米沢城 | |
|---|---|
| Yonezawa,Yamagata Prefecture,Japan | |
 Moats of Yonezawa Castle | |
 Yonezawa Castle from the air, 1972 | |
| Site information | |
| Type | flatland-styleJapanese castle |
| Open to the public | yes |
| Location | |
  Yonezawa Castle 米沢城  Yonezawa Castle 米沢城 | |
| Coordinates | 37°54′34.62″N140°06′18.52″E / 37.9096167°N 140.1051444°E /37.9096167; 140.1051444 |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1238, rebuilt 1608-1613 |
| Built by | Uesugi Kagekatsu |
| In use | Edo period |
| Demolished | 1873 |
Yonezawa Castle (米沢城,Yonezawa-jō) is a flatland-styleJapanese castle located in the center of the city ofYonezawa, southernYamagata Prefecture,Japan. Throughout theEdo period, Yonezawa Castle was home to theUesugi clan,daimyō ofYonezawa Domain.
The first castle on this site dates to the middle of theKamakura period. Ōe Tokihiro, the younger son ofŌe no Hiromoto, a senior retainer of theKamakura shogunate was granted lands inDewa Province, and in 1238 changed his name to Nagai Tokihiro. The Nagai continued to rule for about 150 years. The Nagai were supplanted in theSengoku period by theDate clan, and the famed warlordDate Masamune was born at Yonezawa Castle. After Date Masamune defeated theAshina clan in 1589, he moved his main castle toKurokawa Castle inAizu and put Date Munekiyo in charge of Yonezawa. However,Toyotomi Hideyoshi did not agree, and forced Masamune to move back to Yonezawa. In 1591, Masamune relocated to Iwadeyama Castle by orders of Hideyoshi, surrendering Yonezawa Castle toGamō Ujisato. When Ujisato’s son,Gamō Hideyuki was moved to Utsunomiya in 1597, the castle was turned over toUesugi Kagekatsu, as part of their vast 1,200,000koku holdings based in Aizu. The castellan at this time wasNaoe Kanetsugu.
However, after theBattle of Sekigahara, the Uesugi were stripped of most of their holdings byTokugawa Ieyasu, and were reduced to a 300,000koku domain centered on Yonezawa. From 1608-1613, the Uesugi completely renovated the castle. However, due to the reduction in size of their holdings as compared with Aizu and the suspicion with which the clan was viewed by theTokugawa shogunate, the defensive earthen works were not faced with stone, anddonjon was kept to a modest three-stories. The Uesugi also relocated the grave of their founder,Uesugi Kenshin fromEchigo Province to within the walls of Yonezawa Castle. In 1664, the clan revenues were halved to 150,000koku, forcing it to lay off many samurai, and for many others to take up part-time farming. However, the castle remained in the hands of the Uesugi clan until theMeiji restoration.
With theAbolition of the han system in 1871, Yonezawa Domain became Yonezawa Prefecture, and in 1872 Uesugi Shrine, honoring the ancestors of the Uesugi clan, was established within the grounds of the castle. All remaining structures were demolished in 1873 and in the second bailey, the present-day Yonezawa city hall was constructed. The main bailey was transformed into a public park in 1874. The Uesugi Shrine was transferred to its present location on top of the site of the donjon in 1876.
| Uesugi Shrine | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Shinto |
| Deity | Uesugi Kenshin |
 Interactive map of Uesugi Shrine | |
Uesugi Shrine is aBeppyo shrine inYonezawa, Yamagata.[1][2][3] It is dedicated toUesugi Kenshin, a historical Japanese military leader.[1][2] In February lanterns are carved from snow for the snow lantern festival[1] It was built on the site of Yonezawa Castle in 1876[3]
