Hikone Castle

Hikone Castle (彦根城, Hikone-jō) is a Japanese Edo-period castle in the city of Hikone, in Shiga Prefecture. It is considered the most significant historical building in Shiga. Hikone is one of only 12 Japanese castles with the original keep, and one of only five castles listed as a national treasure.

Hikone Castle
彦根城
Hikone, Shiga Prefecture, Japan
Hikone Castle Keep
TypeAzuchi-Momoyama castle
Site information
Controlled byIi clan (1622–1874)
Japan (1874–present)
ConditionLargely intact. Lord's Inner Palace rebuilt in 1987.
Site history
Built1603–1622
Built byIi Naokatsu
In use1622–1876?
MaterialsWood, stone, plaster, tile

History

The current site of the castle was previously occupied by a Buddhist temple called Hogon-ji. Hogon-ji was claimed to have been built back in 1080. The temple was a popular pilgrimage site for the worship of Kannon.[1]

Hikone Castle traces its origin to 1603 when Ii Naokatsu, son of the former daimyō Ii Naomasa, ordered its construction. The keep was originally built in 1575, as part of Ōtsu Castle, and was moved to Hikone by the Ii clan. Other parts of the castle were moved from Nagahama Castle.[2] Hikone Castle was completed in 1622. Naokatsu's lands had been taken from him in the interval by the Tokugawa shogunate, and when his brother Naotaka assumed control of the area around Ōmi Province, he was able to complete the castle by collecting stones from the former Sawayama Castle.

When the Meiji era began in 1868, many castles were scheduled to be dismantled, and only a request from the emperor himself, touring the area, kept Hikone Castle intact. Today it remains one of the oldest original-construction castles in Japan. The main keep of Hikone Castle was designated a National Treasure by the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture in 1952.[3] Hikone Castle also has several parts which are designated Important National Cultural Assets:[4] Umaya (Stable), Tenbin Yagura (Balance Scale Turret), Taikomon Yagura (Drum Gate Turret) and Nishinomaru Sanju Yagura (West Bailey Three-story Turret).

  • Foundation of the main keep
  • Tenbin Yagura and Rokabashi Bridge
  • Sawaguchi Tamon Yagura
  • Omotemon-gate and Palace in 1876
  • View from Genkyuen
  • In autumn
  • Hikone Castle moat in spring 2018

Surroundings

See also

References
  1. Schellinger, Paul; Salkin, Robert, eds. (1996). International Dictionary of Historic Places, Volume 5: Asia and Oceania. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers. p. 338. ISBN 1-884964-04-4.
  2. Nagahama Castle Archived 2016-12-29 at the Wayback Machine
  3. http://www.yamasa.org/japan/english/destinations/shiga/hikonejou.html
  4. Hikone Castle

Literature
  • Benesch, Oleg and Ran Zwigenberg (2019). Japan's Castles: Citadels of Modernity in War and Peace. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 374. ISBN 9781108481946.

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