Kanazawa castle

The Hashizume-mon, or "Bridge Claw Gate", providing access to the Ni-no-maru from the San-no-maru.

• Built: 1580, 1583
• Founder:Sakuma Morimasa, Maeda Toshiie
• Demolished:1873
• Reconstructed:2001(Yagura, gate)
• Type: Flatland-Mountain (hirayama-jô)
• Japanese: 金沢城 (Kanazawa-jou)

Kanazawa castle was the political center of Kaga han, the wealthiest daimyô domain in Edo period Japan, and residence of the Maeda clan lords of Kaga.

History

After having campaigned against the Ikkô-ikki of Kaga province on behalf of Oda Nobunaga, Maeda Toshiie began to make plans to construct a castle to oversee his new lands. He chose the location of the village of Yamazaki (not the same site of the battle involving Akechi Mitsuhide), which had held the Oyama Gobô, a Buddhist temple-fortress subdued by Toshiie, upon which to construct it. Construction began upon Kanazawa castle in 1583 after Toshiie seized the site, and came to a close in 1592. As the fortunes of the Maeda clan increased under the reign of Tokugawa Ieyasu, this castle was rivaled only by Osaka and Edo in size and majesty. However, the complex was quite frequently beset with conflagrations. Beginning in 1602 when the tenshu was destroyed by fire, no fewer than 30 major blazes were reported. The tenshu was never rebuilt, and following a 1631 fire which destroyed the rest of the honmaru, the daimyo residence and center of power was moved to the ni-no-maru (second bailey). Though the honmaru was never rebuilt, the Maeda doggedly continued to repair the damage to other parts of the castle after each incident, and even initiated new construction (a rarity during the Edo period when castle construction and repairs were highly restricted and regulated). At its height, the castle boasted over twenty towers.

The major gatehouse - the Ishikawa-mon - was built in 1788, and as late as 1858 the Maeda constructed a new armory (a two-story, 30-bay structure, giving it the name of Sanjukken Nagaya) along with several other structures. The castle finally met its doom when the Meiji government destroyed many of the buildings, those in the second bailey (ni-no-maru) lost to a fire in 1881.

Today, a number of structures of Kanazawa castle has been rebuilt, including the Ishikawa-mon, Gojukken-nagaya, Sanjukken-nagaya, and Tsurumaru storehouse, though not including the tenshu or other honmaru structures. The castle site was used as a military base in the Meiji period, and was home to Kanazawa University after that, until 1989. Today, it is a national historical site and "park". Archaeological excavations continue, and several structures in the compound were reconstructed in the early 2000s using wood and traditional joinery methods.

Layout and Construction

The Ishikawa-mon originally protected the rear entrance to the castle, but today has become the main entrance, and a symbol of the castle and of the city. The gate faces the Kenrokuen to the east, and is accessed via a bridge extended over what was once a moat, known as Hasuikebori (蓮池掘, "Lotus Pond Moat") or Hyakkenbori (百間掘, "Hundred Bays Moat"). Today, a roadway runs in its place.

The stone walls of the castle were repaired and restored in 1765, though the structures standing today which compose the Ishikawa-mon date to 1788. The Ishikawa-mon is a masu-gata (枡形) or "square gate," composed in fact of two gates through which a visitor or invader must pass. Upon entering the triple-roofed Kôrai-mon (高麗門), one must turn ninety degrees to pass through the two-story Yagura-mon (櫓門) boxing a small courtyard. Guards stationed atop the walls of the gatehouse and in a two-story watchtower overlooked and defended this courtyard, the bridge, and beyond.

Like most structures in the compound, the Ishikawa-mon features lead tile roofs and namako plastered walls. The roofing was made from lead, which provided protection against fire and which, along with tiling in the walls, could be melted down to make bullets in case of a siege.

The Ishikawa-mon grants access to the shinmaru ("new bailey") and san-no-maru (third bailey), which is separated from the ni-no-maru by the gojukken-nagaya ("Fifty Bays Long Armory"). Access to the ni-no-maru is attained chiefly via the hashizume-mon (橋爪門, "Bridge Claw Gate") at a corner in the center of the fifty-bay-long structure, where it turns to form a 90-degree angle. A short bridge extends like a claw from the gate, over a narrow moat which runs the length of the nagaya. One can easily imagine how significantly access could be denied by closing this gate, and how quickly a bottleneck would be formed in a large invading force passing through this point, even if the gate were open. The bridge and gate are further defended by a watchtower, known as the hashizumemon tsuzuki yagura (橋爪門続櫓) or waki-yagura (脇櫓), located at the corner of the nagaya.

The Gojukken-nagaya is today the chief structure of those which remain or were rebuilt. It houses a series of exhibits about the history of the castle and its construction, and allows visitors to climb into the watchtowers, providing an impressive view out over the castle grounds and beyond.

Surroundings

Other structures on the grounds or otherwise closely associated with the castle include Oyama Shrine and Kanazawa Shrine, established by the Maeda lords, the Kinjô-reitaku well which gives the city its name, and several old samurai houses including ones associated with Tsuda Genba and Takamine Jôkichi.

The castle town of Kanazawa which grew up around the castle remains today one of the most intact Edo period castle towns in Japan, and an oft-cited example of a provincial castle town. The famous (and practical) Kenrokuen garden, one of the three top famous gardens in Japan, lies adjacent to the castle. The streams feeding the garden also served the purpose of supplying the castle town with water, and the terminus of these streams was shaped into a replica of Lake Biwa near Kyoto. The castle town spawned the Kaga Hôshô school of Noh. Kutani pottery was first made here, and the Maeda lords sent missions to China and Korea for technical advice on ceramics. The area was also famous for its wrought-iron tea kettles used for tea ceremony.

The temple of Myôryû-ji, located across town from the castle, is another famous site in the city. It looks like any other temple, but actually was a seven-story fortress. Because the Maeda were the wealthiest clan in Japan after the Tokugawa, they were under intense surveillance by Ieyasu’s spies. To avoid this scrutiny, the Maeda conducted much of their important business at Myôryû-ji. Myôryû-ji is loaded with secret doors and passages and a number of defensive features, such as hidden spiked pits.

Links

• Kanazawa castle park
• Photos

References

• Plaques and signs on-site.
• Hinago Motoo. Nihon No Bijutsu #54:Shiro. Tokyo: Shibundo, 1970.
• Kodama Kota & Tsuboi Kiyotari (eds.). Nihon Jôkaku Taikei. 20 Volumes. Tokyo: Shinjimbutsu oraisha, 1981.
• Nanjô Norio & Naramoto Tatsuya (eds.). Nihon no Meijô Kojô Jiten. TBS Brittanica, 1989.
• Schmorleitz, Morton S. Castles In Japan. Tokyo: Charles E Tuttle Company Inc, 1974.
• Terada Shôichi (ed.). Meijô wo aruku 2: Kanazawa-jô. Tokyo: PHP Kenkyûsho,　2002.