Okazaki Castle 岡崎城 |
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Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture, Japan | |
Reconstructed Main Keep of Okazaki Castle
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Coordinates | Coordinates: 34°57′23″N 137°09′32″E / 34.95639°N 137.15889°E |
Type | hilltop-style Japanese castle |
Site information | |
Owner | reconstructed 1982 |
Open to the public |
yes |
Site history | |
Built | 1455, 1542 |
Built by | Saigo Tsugiyori, Matsudaira Kiyoyasu |
In use | Edo period |
Demolished | 1871 |
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 December 16, 1542. 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.