Sakura castle
- Built: 1616, Doi Toshikatsu
- Demolished: 1871
- Status: Ruins and excavations
- Location: Shimousa province
- Japanese: 佐倉城 (Sakura-jou)
Sakura castle was the main castle of the Hotta clan, lords of Sakura han (in Shimousa province). Today, very little remains of the castle; the site has become the home of the National Museum of Japanese History (Rekihaku).
Members of the Chiba clan held the territory, and a fortress on the site, during the late Sengoku period. For example, Chiba Tanetomi (1527-1579) held the fortress for a time, and Chiba Shigetane was castellan when the site was besieged during Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Odawara Campaign in 1590.
The Edo period castle was built on the site by Doi Toshikatsu, in 1616. It sat on a highland which extended to the east and west, surrounded in some parts by a moat, and in other parts by dry moats and earthen embankments. The castle town below was divided into merchant districts and samurai districts, with the layout of both castle and town developing out of defensive plans put into place by the lord of Sakura in 1610.
The castle was dismantled in 1871 along with the abolition of the han, and the site became the site of the first Imperial Japanese Army training grounds in Japan. The military base was demolished following World War II, and in 1983, the National Museum of Japanese History was established on the site. Some elements, including parts of the moat, dry moat and embankments, and some sections of foundation walls are still visible today, but no buildings (let alone a main keep) survive or have been reconstructed.
References
- Buke yashiki (Old Samurai Houses) guide pamphlet, Sakura City Board of Education.
