Shōzui Castle

Shōzui Castle (勝瑞城, Shōzui-jō) was a Muromachi to Sengoku period Japanese castle located in the town of Aizumi, Itano District, Tokushima Prefecture, Japan. Its ruins have been protected as a National Historic Site since 2001, with the area under protection expanded in 2015.

Shōzui Castle is located on a loop of the former course of the Yoshino River, approximately five kilometers north from the center of Tokushima city. The present course of the river is now three kilometers to the south of the castle due to flood control projects in the Edo period, but when the castle was constructed it was directly on the river and could be reached by boat from the mainland of Honshu. The castle was surrounded by small creeks and marshes which formed part of its natural defenses.

It is unknown when this site was first fortified, but it is believed to have been by Ogasawara Nagakiyo in the Kamakura period. The castle was believed to have been taken over in the Nanboku-chō period by the Hosokawa clan, the shugo of Awa Province. The Hosokawa clan was large and was divided into several cadet houses. The Hosokawa clan rose to prominence during the Ōnin War against the Yamana clan, and under Hosokawa Masamoto; however, as he had no sons, he adopted Hosokawa Sumiyuki (1489-1507), Hosokawa Sumimoto (1489-1520) and Hosokawa Takakuni (1484-1531), who immediately became rivals.

Hosokawa Sumimoto was from the Awa Hosokawa, and he was challenged by Hosokawa Sumiyuki. Sumimoto mustered the support of the Miyoshi clan, who had once been the Awa Hosokawa's ancient enemies and how had now become their main retainers, and was able to defeat Sumiyuki. The next challenge came from Hosokawa Takakuni, who had allied with the powerful Ōuchi clan of Suō Province. Takakuni was more successful and defeated the Awa Hosokawa in Kyoto and their mainland territories, but he was unable to seize their territory in Shikoku which was successfully held by Hosokawa Harumoto (1514-1563), and Miyoshi Motonaga (1501-1532) at Shōzui Castle. Hosokawa Harumoto counterattacked in 1532, decisively defeating Takakuni, bout soon afterwards, he had a falling out with the Miyoshi clan which led to open warfare.

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

Shōzui Castle ranks #5,153 of 8,134 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #249 of the 297 mapped in Japan. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 2,016 times in the last 60 days, more than 67% of the atlas. 3 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Wakayama, 61 km away. It is one of the 15 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of Shikoku. See how Japan compares in the castle statistics.

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