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Kôchi castle was the seat of the [[Yamauchi clan]], lords of [[Tosa han]].

Kôchi castle, in modern-day [[Kochi|Kôchi City]], the capital of [[Kochi prefecture|Kôchi prefecture]], was the seat of the [[Yamauchi clan]], lords of [[Tosa han]]. It features one of the twelve surviving [[Edo period]] ''[[tenshu]]'' (tower keeps), and one of the most complete ''honmaru'' residential/palatial structures among [[Japanese castles]].

 

It is located in the city of [[Kochi|Kôchi]], today capital of [[Kochi prefecture|Kôchi prefecture]], on the south shore of [[Shikoku]].

The castle began its life as a basic ''[[yamashiro]]'' in the mid-1300s. [[Chosokabe Motochika|Chôsokabe Motochika]] raised a larger, permanent structure in place of this in [[1588]] but soon moved his headquarters further south to [[Urado castle]]. After the Chôsokabe found themselves on the losing side of the [[battle of Sekigahara]] in [[1600]], [[Tosa province]] was given in fief to [[Yamauchi Kazutoyo]], who initially used Urado as his base, but saw a need for a larger [[jokamachi|castle town]] to center his domain, and so kept many of his retainers in [[Osaka]] and [[Edo]] while they awaited the construction of the new castle, and the larger city of Kôchi, about five miles north of Urado.

The castle began its life as a basic ''[[yamashiro]]'' in the mid-1300s. [[Chosokabe Motochika|Chôsokabe Motochika]] raised a larger, permanent structure in place of this in [[1588]] but soon moved his headquarters further south to [[Urado castle]]. After the Chôsokabe found themselves on the losing side of the [[battle of Sekigahara]] in [[1600]], [[Tosa province]] was given in fief to [[Yamauchi Kazutoyo]], who initially used Urado as his base, but saw a need for a larger [[jokamachi|castle town]] to center his domain, and so kept many of his retainers in [[Osaka]] and [[Edo]] while they awaited the construction of the new castle, and the larger city of Kôchi, about five miles north of Urado.