Otaki Castle

From Jcastle.info

Otaki5.jpg

History

The original Otaki Castle was built in the early 1500's near the current castle and may have included part of the current Otaki Castle grounds. In 1590, after Tokugawa Ieyasu resettled in Edo, he stationed his retainer Honda Tadakatsu in Otaki to help control the power of the Satomi in this area. Honda Tadakatsu built the Otaki Castle we see today. Otaki castle was ruled by three Honda lords, and then the Abe, Aoyama, and Inagaki before Marsudaira Masahisa became lord in 1703. His descendents controlled Otaki until the Meiji Restoration. No one knows what the original Otaki Castle main keep looked like. The main keep seen in the picture above is simple is mock main keep based on the designs of typical main keep from the Edo Period.


Visit Notes

The main keep is a typical local museum with some historical artifacts including a small collection of armor and swords. The original yakuimon gate is on the school grounds next to the castle. Unfortunately, there was some festival or event going on that day so I couldn't get in to see it.


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Gallery
  • main keep
  • Isumi RIver
  • Ninomaru
  • bell tower
  • view from the top of the castle
  • Yakuimon
  • Well
  • merchant's home
  • map


Castle Profile
English Name Otaki Castle
Japanese Name 大多喜城
Founder Takeda Nobukiyo
Year Founded earl 1500's
Castle Type Hilltop
Castle Condition Reconstructed main keep
Designations Next 100 Castles
Historical Period Edo Period
Year Reconstructed 1975 (concrete)
Features main keep, gates, turrets, stone walls, walls
Visitor Information
Access Otaki Sta. (Isumi Tetsudo Line); 15 min walk
Visitor Information
Time Required
Website http://www.chiba-muse.or.jp/SONAN/
Location Otaki, Chiba Prefecture
Coordinates 35° 17' 9.13" N, 140° 14' 21.62" E
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Admin
Added to Jcastle 2009
Contributor Eric
Admin Year Visited 2009
Admin Visits June 20, 2009


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(5 votes)
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ARTShogun

23 months ago
Score 0++

Ôtakijō's main attraction is its mogi tenshu (faux reconstructed main keep), but it does have an extant structure too. Also, Ôtakijō’s castle town is marvellously preserved, including a merchant’s residence from 1841 and an old sake brewery. The original structure remaining at Ôtakijō is the Yakuimon (gate), dating to 1844, at the foot of the mountain. Ôtakijō is surrounded by deep pine forests. The reconstructed keep at Ôtakijō was built in 1975 out of concrete. No detailed plans or depictions remain of what the original keep looked like, but a rough sketch from 1832 was found and this was used as a basis for the reconstruction. The original castle tower burnt down in a fire in 1842.

History:

In 1590 Tokugawa Ieyasu awarded his top general, Honda Tadakatsu, Ôtaki-han, a fiefdom worth 100,000石. Honda was tasked with protecting the Tokugawa’s headquarters at Edo from the Satomi Clan of Awa, South Bōsō. Essentially Ôtakijō blocked egress from Awa. Any assault from Awa on Edo would have to be naval-based instead.

In the Edo period much of Bōsō was controlled via Hatamoto in territories called Tenryō. The Hatamoto were officials appointed to govern directly by the Bakufu (shogunate). Ôtaki-han was controlled by various lords: after three generations of Honda there followed the Abe, the Aoyama, the Inagaki and then from 1703 the Matsudaira ruled until the Meiji Restoration. By the time the first Matsudaira lord, Matsuhisa, took charge Ôtaki-han was worth only 16,000石, the rest of the former domain being governed as Tenryō by the Hatamoto.

In 1609 a Spanish galleon ran aground in Ôtaki-han. The sailors, including Governor General of the Philippines, Rodrigo de Viverd, were welcomed and stayed at Ôtakijō. The Spanish Governor General was granted an audience with Tokugawa Ieyasu. He praised Ôtakijō as the most well-constructed castle he had ever seen. I don't know whether he had other Japanese castles in mind, or only European ones, which were generally smaller in scale.

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ARTShogun

96 months ago
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Ōtakijō’s castle town is marvellously preserved, including a merchant’s residence from 1841 and an old sake brewery. The original structure remaining at Ōtakijō is the Yakuimon (gate), dating to 1844, at the foot of the mountain. Ōtakijō is surrounded by deep pine forests. The reconstructed keep at Ōtakijō was built in 1975 out of concrete. No detailed plans or depictions remain of what the original keep looked like, but a rough sketch from 1832 was found and this was used as a basis for the reconstruction. The original castle tower burnt down in a fire in 1842.

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Anonymous user #1

142 months ago
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Otaki Castle is a nice reconstruction and museum in a nice location. It looked really nice on a clear winter day in the afternoon sunlight and with the setting sun. The museum has a cute miniature reconstruction of the layout and a great map at the entrance showing all the castle sites in Chiba, which is a lot - honestly, a lot - the one built by a Takeda Nobunaga caught my eye - the combination of name and location is just intriguing. They also have replica Tadakatsu helmets and jinbaori for people to try on. This is the first castle we went to after getting married - nothing says, `I married an Ieyasu fan` like photos wearing a Tadakatsu helmet. The surrounding area has lots of interesting sites to see as well.

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Anonymous user #1

167 months ago
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Another great day trip from Tokyo. While the castle itself is a moderate experience, the surrounding areas make this a combined experience. Omiyage, local restaurants, tunnels off the main road to explore, English signs in many places, a good museum of interesting artifacts, and much to explore in the local town make this a well-rated trip.

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