Gamo
Aizu Wakamatsu Castle
会津若松城
| Alternate Name | Tsuruga-jo, Kurokawa-jo |
| Founder | Ashina Naomori |
| Year | 1384 |
| Reconstructed | 1965 (concrete) |
| Type | Hilltop |
| Structure | 5 levels, 7 stories |
| Condition | Reconstructed |
| Rating | ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ |
| Historical Site | National Historic Site |
| Historical Value | Top 100 Castles |
| Location | Aizu-Wakamatsu, Fukushima Prefecture |
| Map | Google Map |
| Access | Wakamatsu Station (Ban'etsu Saisen), 30 minute walk or 10 minutes by bus |
| Website | Aizu Wakamatsu City Website |
| Visited | October 1997, January 1998, Sept. 14, 2003 |
| Notes | There are also several other historical locations around the town such as a reconstructed samurai home and Iimori-yama which is famous for the Byakkotai. Aizu-Wakamatsu is also famous for soba and has several Sake breweries which make for a nice stop too. when visiting the castle make sure to walk around the grounds there are a number of interesting moats and stone walls. |
| History |
Tsuruga-jo is the strongest and oldest fortress in all of Tohoku. It was originally built in 1384 as Kurokawa-jo by Ashina Naomori. In 1589 Date Masamune defeated Ashina Yoshihiro and moved into Kurokawa-jo. A year later it was absorbed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi and governed by Gamo Ujisato. Gamo renovated the castle and renamed it Tsuruga-jo. The reconstructed donjon you see today was built by Gamo. After the establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate the castle was governed by the Matsudaira clan. The Matsudaira were a branch of the Tokugawa family and thus in the category of "inner lords." The "inner lords" were branches of the Tokugawa family who kept watch over the daimyo who were not originally Tokugawa allies and provided a buffer between allied and non-allied daimyo. The Matsudaira ruled from Tsuruga-jo until the Meiji Restoration when it fell in the Boshin War . The most famous episode from the downfall of Tsuruga-jo is that of the Byakkotai. The layout, nawabari, of this castle was patterened after that of Osaka Castle during Hideyoshi's time. |
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