Matsuzaka Castle

Matsusaka Castle 松阪城
Matsusaka, Mie Prefecture, Japan
portion of the foundations of the Main Keep of Matsusaka Castle
Coordinates	Coordinates: 34°34′33″N 136°31′33″E / 34.57583°N 136.52583°E / 34.57583; 136.52583
Type	flatland-style Japanese castle
Site information
Open to the public	yes
Condition	ruins
Site history
Built	1588
Built by	Gamō Ujisato
In use	Edo period
Demolished	1881

Matsusaka Castle (松坂城, Matsusaka-jō^?) was a Japanese castle (now in ruins) located in Matsusaka, Mie Prefecture, Japan. Throughout most of the Edo period, Matsusaka Castle was a secondary administrative center for the Kishu-Tokugawa clan, daimyō of Kishū Domain. The site has been proclaimed a National Historic Site by the Japanese government.

In 1584, by order of Oda Nobunaga, Gamō Ujisato was transferred from his 60,000 koku holdings in Omi Province to a new 123,000 koku domain in Ise Province. In 1588, feeling that Matsugashima Castle on Ise Bay was indefensible, he relocated his seat further inland, to the current site of Matsusaka Castle. Construction was completed in a very short time, partly through the destruction of local Buddhist temples and an ancient kofun burial mound, to use the stones in the construction of the defensive walls. The inhabitants of Matsugashima were forcibly resettled at the new castle town, and merchants were invited from the Gamō’s former domain in Omi. The completed castle had two concentric moats, and a three-roof/five-story tenshu (donjon).

However, in 1590, after the Battle of Odawara, the Gamō clan was rewarded by Toyotomi Hideyoshi with a transfer to Aizu-Wakamatsu (600,000 koku). Matsusaka Castle was given to a Toyotomi retainer, Hattori Kazutada. In 1595, the Hattori were purged by Hideyoshi, together with Toyotomi Hidetsugu and the domain was given to Furuta Shigekatsu, with a much-reduced revenue base of 34,000 koku. The Furuta were confirmed in their holdings by Tokugawa Ieyasu and their revenues increased to 54,000 koku after the Battle of Sekigahara.