Kiyosu Castle

nihongo|Kiyosu Castle|清洲城|Kiyosu-jō is a castle that acted as a base of operations for Oda Nobunaga during the latter half of the Sengoku period of feudal Japan. It is located in the city of Kiyosu, Aichi Prefecture, Japan.

The current partial reconstruction dates to 1989cite web |url=http://www.kandou10.jp/en/spot/spot40_e04_2.html |title=Kiyosu Castle: Chubu Wide-area Tourism Portal Site |work=Chubu Wide-Area Tourism Promotion Council |accessdate=2008-05-15] cite web |url=http://www.city.kiyosu.aichi.jp/en/sightseeing01.html |title=Kiyosu Castle | Kiyosu |work=Kiyosu City |accessdate=2008-02-26] and was built as a centennial celebration for the modern-day city of Kiyosu.

Castle history

Kiyosu Castle was built between 1394 and 1427,cite web |url=http://library.thinkquest.org/C001119/tour/parse.php3?src=kiyosu |title=Kiyosu Castle|work=ThinkQuest|accessdate=2007-12-24] first belonging to Shiba Yoshishige, then head of the Shiba clan and the "shugo" (governor) of Owari Province. Upon completion of construction, Oda Toshisada was installed in the castle as the "shugodai" (vice-governor of the province. It is thought to have been intended as a defensive stronghold meant to protect Orizu Castle, the seat of Owari's provincial government until its destruction during battle in 1476. After the loss of Orizu Castle, the government shifted to Kiyosu, bringing prosperity to the city.

Operating from Nagoya Castle, Oda Nobunaga captured Kiyosu Castle in 1555. After Nobunaga's death, his second son, Nobukatsu, came into control of the castle and began large scale renovations in 1586.

Deconstruction

In 1610, the capital of Owari was moved from Kiyosu to nearby Nagoya on the orders of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Once a thriving castle town of 60,000 people, much of the city disappeared in what is known as the "Moving of Kiyosu."

Parts of Nagoya Castle were constructed with the use of building materials taken from Kiyosu Castle. Constructed using parts taken from the Kiyosu Castle tower, one of the names of the northwest turret of Nagoya Castle's Ofukemaru fortress is subsequently the "Kiyosu Turret."

Use of Kiyosu Castle would continue until the Edo period of the 18th century. Tokugawa Yoshinobu, a descendant of Tokugawa Ieyasu, was the last owner of the castle.

The original "kinshachi" (金鯱) are now in Sōfuku-ji in Gifu in the neighboring Gifu Prefecture.

References

External links

* [http://www.city.kiyosu.aichi.jp/en/sightseeing01.html City of Kiyosu: Sightseeing Guide - Kiyosu Castle]