Maebashi Castle

Maebashi Castle (前橋城, Maebashi-jō) is a castle located in Maebashi, central Gunma Prefecture, Japan. At the end of the Edo period, Maebashi Castle was home to a branch of the Matsudaira clan, daimyō of Maebashi domain, although the castle was ruled by a large number of different clans over its history. The castle was also known as "Mayabashi-jō" (厩橋城), after the former name of Maebashi.

Maebashi Castle is built on a steep bank of the Tone River in the center of former Kōzuke Province. The location was a strategic junction on the main highway from Edo to Echigo Province and the Sea of Japan and the Nakasendō highway connecting Edo with Kyoto.

A fortification called Ishikura Castle (石倉城, Ishikura-jō) was built on banks of the Tone River near the site of the present castle in 1470 by the Nagano clan, retainers of the Uesugi clan who controlled the Kantō region with the position of Kantō Kanrei. However, the castle was damaged on several occasions by flooding of the Tone River.

The Uesugi were defeated by the Odawara Hōjō at the Battle of Kawagoe in 1546, around which time the Nagano clan defected to the Hōjō side. However, the Hojo were driven out by Uesugi Kenshin in 1560, who expanded Ishikura castle into one of his seven main strongholds in the Kantō area. The combined forces of the Hōjō and Takeda clans recaptured the caste in 1562, but were unable to hold it. Kenshin gave the castle to Kitajō Takahiro, but in 1567 Kitajō defected to the Hōjō clan, and later to the Takeda clan in 1579.

When the Takeda clan was extinguished by Oda Nobunaga in 1582, the castle was awarded to Takigawa Kazumasu, who resided here for only three months until Nobunaga's assassination. The Hōjō took the opportunity to recover the castle, but were themselves extinguished by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1590.

After Tokugawa Ieyasu took control over the Kantō region in 1590, he assigned Hiraiwa Chikayoshi, one of his most trusted generals, as castellan. However, in 1601, Sakai Shigetada was installed as daimyō of Maebashi, initially with a kokudaka of 33,000 koku. The Sakai clan ruled over the next seven generations, completely rebuilding Maebashi Castle on higher ground with multiple baileys and a three-story tenshu. During the Sakai tenure, the revenues of the domain increased to 150,000 koku, prior to their transfer in 1749 to Himeji Domain.

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

Maebashi Castle ranks #2,616 of 8,133 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #150 of the 297 mapped in Japan. Founded 1470, it is older than 48% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 454 atlas entries founded in the 15th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 3,098 times in the last 60 days, more than 76% of the atlas. 2 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Sagamihara, 95 km away. See how Japan compares in the castle statistics.

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