Ikeda Castle

History

The castle was originally a small fortification built by Ikeda Noriyori in 1334. The Ikeda clan ruled the area from this time through to the Sengoku Period. The castle was involved in many battles and struggles for power in the area and gradually grew in size and strength with each. The castle fell to Oda Nobunaga in 1568. Nobunaga recognized the skills and intelligence of Ikeda Katsumasa, lord of the castle, and made him a retainer. Ikeda rebuilt and strengthened much of the castle learning from Nobunaga's castle techniques. Araki Murashige took over the castle in a coup in 1570 and expelled Ikeda Katsumasa from the castle. The castle was abandoned in 1580 when Araki moved to Itami Castle.

Visit Notes

The reconstructed buildings are mock reconstructions of the type that might have been here in the late Sengoku Period.

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Gallery

Mock reconstructed main keep
Main keep and The MInamimon Gate
Koguchimon Gate
Reconstructed wooden wall
Main keep seen through the Koguchimon
Reconstructed walls seen from the inside
Higashimon Gate
Wooden Bridge
Kitamon Gate
Wooden bridge seen from below
Main keep
Main keep
View from the top of the main keep
Map

Castle Profile
English Name	Ikeda Castle
Japanese Name	池田城
Founder	Ikeda Noriyori
Year Founded	1334
Castle Type	Hilltop
Castle Condition	Reconstructed main keep
Historical Period	Pre Edo Period
Year Reconstructed	1999
Features	gates, turrets, walls
Visitor Information
Access	Hankyu Ikeda Sta., 15 min walk
Visitor Information	Free admission;, closed Tuesdays and New Year's holidays; open 900-1700 (Nov.-Mar.) and 900-1900 (Apr.-Oct.)
Time Required
Website	http://www.ikedashi-kanko.jp/sub page/meisyo deta/meisho annai.html
Location	Ikeda City, Osaka
Coordinates	34° 49' 36.48" N, 135° 25' 41.20" E
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	2012
Contributor	Eric
Admin Year Visited	2013
Admin Visits	March 9, 2013
Friends of JCastle
Malcolm Fairman Photography - Ikeda Castle

2.44

(9 votes)

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Matthew WardGunshi

16 months ago

Score 1

I visited this castle again today, for the first time in maybe 20 years.

It's a really beautiful little park. As for the castle, from what I can understand from the limited literature available, there were archeological excavations there that found, in addition to some of the stones, evidence of a few locations like the well, the Koguchi Gate, the rock garden and the landscape garden. Those things are considered to be reconstructions of the original castle, though the Koguchi is not in its original place.

On the other hand, the materials state pretty explicitly that the walls, the administrative building and the keep-like building are not intended to be reconstructions of anything like the original castle or even period buildings, but rather just create a 'castle-like atmosphere.' The keep-like building is actually listed as something I would translate as a 'Turret-style Observatory Rest House,' or something like that. So they are being pretty up-front that these are not intended to be authentic castle buildings of any kind, or even period reproductions.

I'm not sure about the other gates, but they are really nice little structures, and appear authentic in style. And it's also nice to have original stones displayed.

From the pictures of the Warring States period model from Ikeda City, it's pretty clear that the reconstruction isn't an attempt to replicate the model, or the model of the older version of the castle either. It seems that they just wanted to replicate the few aspects of the castle that they find evidence for during the archeological work, and then create some other buildings to make it seem more like a castle. It would have been nice if they had tried to reproduce the castle according to the city's model, but I don't know how speculative the model is.

Anyway, I gave this place a 2 based on its attractiveness and the fact that it's based at least partially on research, even if other parts are there only to make it seem more like a castle.

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FurinkazanDaimyo

138 months ago

Score 0

What can i add to the comment of RaymondW. There is a drawing in the tower showing how the castle really looked in the Sengoku-jidai. This is a lovely park to go.

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RaymondWDaimyo

146 months ago

Score 0

I went to this castle last week. It takes around 20 minutes from Hankyu Umeda to Ikeda if you take the express train which misses a bunch of stations between Umeda and Toyonaka. Ikeda Castle doesn’t have much in the way of original ruins apart from some foundation stones laid out in the middle of the castle park, but what it lacks in original structures / ruins is made up for by having a bunch reconstructed defensive structures from the Sengoku period . Within the park, there are three styles of gates: three yakui-mons, one kabuki-mon, and one heijuu-mon. The kabuki-mon is built on the site where the archaeologists have undercovered the remains of a castle gate (koguchi). Leading to the Otemon (a yakui-mon) is a wooden bridge. The castle park is also enclosed by two types of walls: the white-wash type and the plain wooden type. Situated in the middle of the park next to a pond is the wooden castle keep shown in the photos on this website. Once again, this reconstruction is in line with earlier smaller Sengoku castle keeps / lords’ palace with a turret. Overall, if you have an hour to spare and enjoy walking around a small castle park, this site is certainly worth a visit. There is one sign at the end of the bridge which is multi-lingual (Japanese / English / Chinese / Korean), and it gives a decent introduction to the castle site. All the other (more detailed) signs and displays are in Japanese. For me, this castle site is worth two stars because of the reconstructed gates and castle keep.

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