Yokosuka Castle

From Jcastle.info

Yokosuka7.jpg

History

Tokugawa Ieyasu ordered his retainer Oosuga Yasutaka to build a castle on this site in 1578 to oppose the Takeda forces whose territory extended to the nearby Takatenjin Castle. Tokugawa defeated Takatenjin Castle in 1581 and burned it down. From that time on Yokosuka Castle ruled over the area. After Tokugawa moved to Edo (Tokyo) the castle changed hands several times until the Nishio moved here in 1682 from Komoro Castle. The Nishio family continued to rule from Yokosuka Castle until the Meiji Restoration. The castle was dismantled in 1873.


Visit Notes

This can be easily done as a 2+ hr side trip form Kakegawa. The high honmaru bailey and the rebuilt stone walls are somewhat interesting, but the site as a whole was a bit disappointing compared to what I had expected. Everything you can see is detailed in the pictures here. A couple of the original gates from this castle have been moved to nearby temples but I was not able to visit them.


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Gallery
  • stone walls
  • stone walls
  • stone walls
  • baileys
  • main keep foundation
  • honmaru and kitanomaru baileys
  • map
  • Relocated Goten Shoin at Yusanji
  • Dorui at rear of Matsuo Bailey
  • Earthen ramparts of Matsuo Bailey Mount
  • Karabori (dry moat) in Matsuo Bailey
  • Terraced Sub-bailey of Matsuoyama


Castle Profile
English Name Yokosuka Castle
Japanese Name 横須賀城
Alternate Names Matsuo-jo
Founder Oosuga Yasutaka
Year Founded 1578
Castle Type Hilltop
Castle Condition No main keep but other buildings
Designations has Important Cultural Properties, National Historic Site
Historical Period Edo Period
Features palace, stone walls
Visitor Information
Access Fukuroi Sta. (Tokaido Line); 30 min bus; 10 min walk
Visitor Information 24/7 free; park
Time Required 50 minutes
Website http://lgportal.city.kakegawa.shizuoka.jp/kanko/south/yokosukajo.html
Location Kakegawa, Shizuoka Prefecture
Coordinates 34° 41' 7.80" N, 137° 58' 16.25" E
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Admin
Added to Jcastle 2009
Contributor Eric
Admin Year Visited 2009
Admin Visits October 15, 2009


2.67
(3 votes)
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ARTShogun

7 months ago
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Added some pictures of the Matsuoyama area of the castle with co-ords.
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RaymondWDaimyo

7 months ago
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@ART. See my response to your question here in the updated Zeze Castle profile.
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ARTShogun

7 months ago
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Thanks. I thought it might be Zeze but couldn't be sure, haha
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ARTShogun

7 months ago
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Yūsanji (Aburayamadera), a temple, now has the shoin (drawing room), part of the goten (palatial complex) from Yokosuka Castle! This shoin was constructed in 1681 and was relocated to the temple in 1859. Over the years it endured structural modifications, but was restored to its original appearance in 1979. Many goten were relocated over the years, but parts of original palaces of daimyō still exist! The only difficulty is tracking them all down ^^"

Added photo to gallery and co-ordinates.
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RaymondWDaimyo

7 months ago
Score 1++
Good find, ART. There are quite a few relocated structures from castles. They are mostly disassembled and then reassembled at (nearby) shrines and temples. I'm almost done with tracking down a bunch of them for one castle ruin in Shiga.
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ARTShogun

7 months ago
Score 1++
Thanks, RayW. Sound interesting. I'd love to read more about that. I'm wondering about which castle it could be, haha. I know there are some gates from Sakamoto, and Zeze is a veritable Easter egg hunt.