| Founder | Yanada Narisuke |  |
| Year | 1457 | |
| Type | Flatland | |
| Condition | Reconstructed | |
| Reconstructed | 1995 (concrete) | |
| Structure | 3 levels, 4 stories | |
| Admin's Rating | ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ | |
| Location | Sekiyado, Chiba Prefecture | |
| Map | Google Map | |
| Access | 30 minute bus ride from Tobu Dobutsukoen Station (Isezaki Line) or 30 minute bus ride from Kawama Station (Tobu Noda Line) | |
| Website | Sekiyado Castle Museum | |
| Visited | April 29, 2003 | |
| Notes | The reconstructed castle donjon contains a very well done local history museum. The museum is very well done for a rather small out of the way local museum. The history and displays of life on the Tonegawa and the Tokugawa's changing of the river's course are fascinating. | |
| History |
A rather small castle was originally set up here by Yanada Narisuke in 1457. Together with Koga and Noda it formed a majpr defense for the Kanto regions. When the Tokugawa came to Edo in 1590 they too realized the importance of the site and sent Matsudaira Yasumoto here to help defend Edo from the Date and Satake clans in the North. As the Tokugawa were busy constructing Edo into the nation's new capital, the Tonegawa river wreaked havoc on their plans by continually flooding and damaging their works. In 1654 they rerouted the course of the Tonegawa to dump into the Pacific Ocean above the Boso Peninsual rather than going down through Edo and into the Tokyo Bay. Itakura Shigetsune, then lord of Sekiyado castle took advantage of this opportunity and dug a channel behind his castle connecting the Tonegawa and Edogawa Rivers. This caused a great windfall for the people of Sekiyado and even the Tokugawa government. It greatly speeded the transportation of goods and people by boat from the Northern provinces to Edo as they no longer had to take the much longer and more dangerous route around the Boso Peninsual and up into Tokyo Bay. The Tokugawa also recognized the strategic importance of the location and set up an administration station to control river traffic. They installed lord Kuze to command over the area. The Kuze family continued to rule until the Meiji Restoration. Under the Kuze the castle was considerably fortified and the donjon was constructed in the likeness of the Fujimi Yagura at Edo Castle in 1671. Sekiyado Castle was dismantled in 1874 after the Meiji Restoration. |
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5 Viewer Comments
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Kris
on
My Page
May 10, 2012 at 10:25 PM
I went here the day after heavy rains; it made Sekiyado`s fantastic museum about flooding and river transport even more apt. The view from the top out across the swollen rivers and glittering fields was lovely and you can take some very nice photos of this castle across the rice fields or from across the river (Ibaraki side) to include shots of Mt Fuji. Their museum is interactive and designed to appeal to all ages – they really make the most of explaining the history of this particular castle and its relation to the environment, rather than just filling it up with vaguely related artifacts, pictures of dead men and tables of genealogies. I wish all castle museums could be this good. The only thing I could add would be more English; I wrote that on the survey form - if you do the survey form you get a free Sekiyado castle bookmark. After this we went to Sakasai castle which has ended up with one of Sekiyado`s original gates.
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Eric
May 10, 2011 at 10:21 PM
Thanks John. There are several good ideas there that are probably all true to some extent. It's especially unfortunate that they rushed straight ahead so quickly and destroyed so many of these wonderful buildings themselves.
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john
May 08, 2011 at 10:55 PM
haven't ever been to a japanese castle. ive been to several european castles on a trip to england about seven years ago, and i can say that while european castles might be more structurally sound than their japanese counterparts, they are no nowhere near as beautiful. also i have a theory about why many european castle survived intact: firstly, the castles of europe were made entirely out of stone, and so were harder to demolish. secondly, the medeival period ended in europe five hundred years earlier than it did in japan, so the europeans didn't have to streak forward into the modern age so quickly, abandoning all old things. thirdly, the medieval period in europe is very romanticized, so the governments of countries that had castles tended to veiw them with pride, whereas the meijji government veiwed castles as useless relics of an age that they did not wannt to remember and knocked most of them down.
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Usagi
on
My Page
January 08, 2011 at 06:49 PM
Brass usagi and saru in the surroundings make this an interesting area. The view at the confluence of the rivers too makes for an interesting view.
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Anthony Lovatt
November 07, 2008 at 01:14 PM
Thank you for this. Your photos are excellent. I've been cycling up the Edogawa River for a long time now and I have never failed to be enthralled by Sekiyado's grandeur. This is by far my favourite castle in Japan.
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