Changes

One of the castle’s best known residents was [[Tokugawa Mitsukuni]]. Mitsukuni was the second lord of the province and began writing Dai Nihon Shi (The Great History Of Japan) in [[1657]]. This work was continued by his descendants and eventually reached 397 volumes comprised of almost 21,000 pages, not being completed until [[1906]].  

One of the castle’s best known residents was [[Tokugawa Mitsukuni]]. Mitsukuni was the second lord of the province and began writing Dai Nihon Shi (The Great History Of Japan) in [[1657]]. This work was continued by his descendants and eventually reached 397 volumes comprised of almost 21,000 pages, not being completed until [[1906]].  

The work stressed that the Shogun was a servant of the [[Emperor]] and this facet of it became important in the 1850’s when Mito became an early proponent of restoring direct rule to the Son Of Heaven. The views of these anti-Shogunate forces soon spread across the country, giving birth to the [[Loyalist]] faction of the [[Meiji restoration]]. Despite the restriction on a member of the Mito house becoming Shogun and the anti-shogunate forces in power within it, the last lord of Mito, [[Tokugawa Yoshinobu|Yoshinobu]], became the last Shogun in [[1866]]. When it became obvious that the Shogunate could no longer effectively maintain control of Japan, Yoshinobu turned control of the country back to the Emperor in [[1868]]. The castle was attacked by Imperial forces on their march north from [[Edo]] and most of the buildings were destroyed at that time.

The work stressed that the Shogun was a servant of the [[Emperor]] and this facet of it became important in the 1850’s when Mito became an early proponent of restoring direct rule to the Son Of Heaven. The views of these anti-Shogunate forces soon spread across the country, giving birth to the [[Loyalist]] faction of the [[Meiji restoration]]. Despite the restriction on a member of the Mito house becoming Shogun and the anti-shogunate forces in power within it, the son of the lord of Mito, [[Tokugawa Yoshinobu|Yoshinobu]], who had been adopted into the [[Hitotsubashi Tokugawa clan]], became the last Shogun in [[1866]]. When it became obvious that the Shogunate could no longer effectively maintain control of Japan, Yoshinobu turned control of the country back to the Emperor in [[1867]]. The castle was attacked during the [[Boshin War]] by Imperial forces on their march north from [[Edo]] and most of the buildings were destroyed at that time.

Very little remains of the castle. There are earthworks and a portion of the original moat. Originally, the [[tenshu]] had stood inside the first, outer ring of fortifications (rather than inside the innermost ring as was traditionally the case). It is presumed that the tenshu was a converted one story storehouse, as it was squat and had very thick white plastered walls. What few buildings that survived the Restoration were destroyed during a series of American air raids in [[1945]].

Very little remains of the castle. There are earthworks and a portion of the original moat. Originally, the [[tenshu]] had stood inside the first, outer ring of fortifications (rather than inside the innermost ring as was traditionally the case). It is presumed that the tenshu was a converted one story storehouse, as it was squat and had very thick white plastered walls. What few buildings that survived the Restoration were destroyed during a series of American air raids in [[1945]].