Okazaki Castle

Okazaki Castle (岡崎城, Okazaki-jō) is a Japanese castle located in Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. At the end of the Edo period, Okazaki Castle was home to the Honda clan, daimyō of Okazaki Domain, but the castle is better known for its association with Tokugawa Ieyasu and the Tokugawa clan. The castle was also known as "Tatsu-jō" (龍城).

Saigo Tsugiyori built an earthen-walled fortification in the Myodaiji area of Okazaki, near the present castle in 1455. Matsudaira Kiyoyasu, after gaining control of the area in 1524, demolished the old fortification and built Okazaki Castle on its present location. His famous grandson Matsudaira Motoyasu (later named Tokugawa Ieyasu) was born here on January 31, 1543. The Matsudaira were defeated by the Imagawa clan in 1549, and Ieyasu was taken to Sunpu Castle as a hostage. Following the defeat of the Imagawa at the Battle of Okehazama, Ieyasu regained possession of the castle in 1560 and left his eldest son Matsudaira Nobuyasu in charge when he moved to Hamamatsu Castle in 1570.

After Oda Nobunaga ordered Nobuyasu’s death in 1579, the Honda clan served as castellans. Following the relocation of the Tokugawa to Edo after the Battle of Odawara by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the castle was given to Tanaka Yoshimasa, who substantially improved on its fortifications, expanded the castle town and developed Okazaki-juku on the Tōkaidō.

Following the creation of the Tokugawa shogunate, Okazaki Domain was created, and Ieyasu’s close retainer Honda Yasushige was assigned possession of the castle. A three-story donjon was completed in 1617. The Honda were replaced by the Mizuno clan from 1645-1762, and the Matsudaira (Matsui) clan from 1762-1769. In 1769, a branch of the Honda clan returned to Okazaki, and governed until the Meiji Restoration.

In 1869, the final daimyō of Okazaki Domain, Honda Tadanao, surrendered Okazaki Castle to the new Meiji government. With the abolition of the han system in 1871, Okazaki Domain became part of Nukata Prefecture, with Okazaki Castle used as the prefectural headquarters. However, Nukata Prefecture was merged into Aichi Prefecture in 1872, and the capital of the prefecture was moved to Nagoya. In accordance with government directives in 1873, the castle was demolished, and most of its land sold off to private individuals.

The current donjon was reconstructed in 1959 to boost local tourism.

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

Okazaki Castle ranks #602 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #30 of the 297 mapped in Japan. Founded 1455, 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 9,245 times in the last 60 days, more than 92% of the atlas. 5 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Okazaki, 1 km away. See how Japan compares in the castle statistics.

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