Fushimi Castle

Fushimi Castle 伏見城
Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Japan
Fushimi Castle tenshu
Type	Azuchi-Momoyama castle
Site information
Controlled by	Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1592–1598) Torii Mototada (1598–1600) Tokugawa shogunate (1600–1623) Japan (1964–present)
Condition	Reconstruction closed to public
Site history
Built	1592–1594, rebuilt late 1590s, again in 1964
Built by	Toyotomi Hideyoshi (original)
In use	1592–1623
Materials	stone, wood, plaster, gold
Demolished	1596 by an earthquake; dismantled 1623

Fushimi Castle (伏見城, Fushimi-jō^?), also known as Momoyama Castle (桃山城, Momoyama-jō^?) or Fushimi-Momoyama Castle, is a castle in Kyoto's Fushimi Ward. The current structure is a 1964 replica of the original built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

The construction of the original castle was begun in 1592, the year after Hideyoshi's retirement from the regency, and completed in 1594. Twenty provinces furnished workers for the construction, which numbered between 20,000 and 30,000.

Though bearing the external martial appearance of a castle, the structure was intended as a retirement palace for Hideyoshi, and was furnished and decorated as such. It is particularly famous for its tea ceremony room in which both the walls and the implements were covered in gold leaf. The castle was intended to be the site for Hideyoshi's peace talks with Chinese diplomats seeking an end to the Seven-Year War in Korea, but an earthquake destroyed the castle entirely only two years after its completion.

It was rebuilt soon afterwards, and came to be controlled by Torii Mototada, a vassal of Tokugawa Ieyasu. In 1600, the castle fell in a famous and significant siege by Ishida Mitsunari. Torii Mototada, in a celebrated act of honor and bravery, defended the castle for eleven days, delaying Ishida's forces and allowing his lord Tokugawa time to build his own army. This had a profound effect on the Battle of Sekigahara, which came soon afterwards, and which marked the final victory of Tokugawa Ieyasu over all his rivals.

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Wikipedia