Changes

==History==

==History==

===Edo Period===

===Edo Period===

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.

[[Chosokabe Motochika|Chôsokabe Motochika]] raised a larger, permanent structure in place of this in [[1588]]. He relocated there briefly from his previous base at [[Oko castle|Okô castle]], but soon moved again, to [[Urado castle]] to the south. Because the Chôsokabe occupied Kôchi castle for only three years, little is known about the structure or style of this early incarnation of the castle.<ref name=site/>

 

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.

Kazutoyo began to rebuild the castle at Kôchi in [[1602]], enlisting both samurai and commoner/peasant labor, and removing some parts of Urado castle to construct the new castle, based on a plan by his chief building magistrate, [[Dodo Echizen]].<ref>[[Luke Roberts]], ''Mercantilism in a Japanese Domain: The Merchant Origins of Economic Nationalism in 18th-Century Tosa'', Cambridge University Press (1998), 39.</ref> The ''tenshu'' was completed in [[1603]], and construction of the complex as a whole was completed in [[1611]]. The castle was heavily damaged by an earthquake in [[1707]]. Just as repairs were being completed, the ''tenshu'' and ''honmaru'' complex were destroyed by fire in [[1712]]. Another fire in [[1727]] added further damage to the castle grounds. A major reconstruction project was begun in [[1729]], with the ''tenshu'' and a turret gate being completed in [[1747]]. Construction finished up in [[1753]].  

Kazutoyo began to rebuild the castle at Kôchi in [[1602]], enlisting both samurai and commoner/peasant labor, and removing some parts of Urado castle to construct the new castle, based on a plan by his chief building magistrate, [[Dodo Echizen]].<ref>[[Luke Roberts]], ''Mercantilism in a Japanese Domain: The Merchant Origins of Economic Nationalism in 18th-Century Tosa'', Cambridge University Press (1998), 39.</ref> The ''tenshu'' was completed in [[1603]], and construction of the complex as a whole was completed in [[1611]]. The castle was heavily damaged by an earthquake in [[1707]]. Just as repairs were being completed, the ''tenshu'' and ''honmaru'' complex were destroyed by fire in [[1712]]. Another fire in [[1727]] added further damage to the castle grounds. A major reconstruction project was begun in [[1729]], with the ''tenshu'' and a turret gate being completed in [[1747]]. Construction finished up in [[1753]].  

The [[Meiji government]] designated the castle grounds a public park in [[1873]]. The ''tenshu'' was then given the name Kanrinkaku, and the ''honmaru'' palace Kaitokukan. These were then briefly made into a library and museum in the 1870s to 1890s; those collections and displays were later relocated and reorganized into the Kôchi Prefectural Library, Museum of History, and Kôchi Castle Museum of History.<ref name=kaitoku/>

The [[Meiji government]] designated the castle grounds a public park in [[1873]]. The ''tenshu'' was then given the name Kanrinkaku, and the ''honmaru'' palace Kaitokukan. These were then briefly made into a library and museum in the 1870s to 1890s; those collections and displays were later relocated and reorganized into the Kôchi Prefectural Library, Museum of History, and Kôchi Castle Museum of History.<ref name=kaitoku/>

While the castle was never tested in warfare, an invasion of sorts brought down the castle: termites damaged the ''tenshu'' to the verge of collapse in the mid-20th century and it had to be disassembled beginning in 1949. The damaged parts were replaced and reconstruction was completed in 1955.  

While the castle was never tested in warfare, an invasion of sorts brought down the castle: termites damaged the ''tenshu'' to the verge of collapse in the mid-20th century and it had to be disassembled beginning in 1949. The damaged parts were replaced and reconstruction was completed in 1955.

==Layout & Structures==

==Layout & Structures==