Kakegawa Castle

Kakegawa Castle (掛川城, Kakegawa-jō) is a hirayama-style Japanese castle. It was the seat of various fudai daimyō clans who ruled over Kakegawa Domain, Tōtōmi Province, in what is now central Kakegawa, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.

Kakegawa Castle is located at a small hill in the center of Kakegawa, which had been an important post station on the Tōkaidō highway connecting Kyoto with eastern Japan since the Heian period. Because of its geographical location, Kakegawa was strategic point in controlling the eastern half of Tōtōmi province.

The first Kakegawa Castle was built by Asahina Yasuhiro in the Bunmei era (1469–1487), a retainer of the warlord Imagawa Yoshitada to consolidate his holdings over Tōtōmi Province. The castle remained in the hands of the succeeding generations of the Asahina clan. After the defeat of the Imagawa clan at the Battle of Okehazama, the former Imagawa territories were divided between Takeda Shingen of Kai and Tokugawa Ieyasu of Mikawa. Kakegawa Castle was surrendered to Tokugawa forces in 1568 by Asahina Yasutomo after a five month siege. The surrounding area remained a territory contested between the Tokugawa and Takeda for many years; however, Kakegawa Castle remained in Tokugawa hands until the fall of the Takeda clan.

After the Battle of Odawara in 1590 and the rise to power of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Tokugawa Ieyasu was forced to trade his domains in the Tōkai region for the Kantō region instead. Kakegawa was relinquished to Toyotomi retainer Yamauchi Kazutoyo as the center of a new 51,000 koku (later 59,000 koku) domain. Yamauchi Kazutoyo completely rebuilt the castle per the latest contemporary designs, and the current layout and much of the stone walls and moats date from his period.

After the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate, the Tokugawa recovered their lost territories, and reassigned Tōtōmi to various fudai daimyō. The Yamauchi clan was reassigned to Kōchi in Shikoku, and Kakegawa was assigned initially to Hisamatsu Sadakatsu. Over the years, numerous daimyō clans ruled Kakegawa Domain, ending with seven generations of the Ōta clan. The keep built by the Yamauchi was destroyed in an earthquake in 1604, and reconstructed in 1621.

The castle was kept in repair through the Bakumatsu period, however it suffered from extensive damage in 1854, due to the Ansei Tōkai earthquake.

Text adapted from “Kakegawa Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Kakegawa Castle ranks #1,340 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #67 of the 297 mapped in Japan. Founded 1469, it is older than 48% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 434 atlas entries founded in the 15th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 7,260 times in the last 60 days, more than 89% of the atlas. 2 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Okazaki, 79 km away. See how Japan compares in the castle statistics.

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