1-8 Marunouchi, Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture
telephone number
084-922-2117
Opening hours
9:00～17:00
closing day
Mondays (the next day if Monday is a holiday), year-end (December 28th to December 31st)
Access to Fukuyama Castle
JR "Fukuyama" station, 5 minutes walk
HISTORYFukuyama Castle is the last large-scale early modern castle.
Fukuyama Castle is a flat castle built in Marunouchi, Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture. This castle was built in 1615 after the One Country, One Castle Order was promulgated, and it was also the last large-scale early modern castle to be built. Let's unravel the history of Fukuyama Castle.
Fukuyama, where Fukuyama Castle was built, had a manor called ``Sugihara Tamotsu'' until the castle was built, and a village called ``Nogami Village'' since the Azuchi-Momoyama period. A little away from the castle was a castle called Kannabe Castle, which was the government seat of Bingo Province, but the area where Fukuyama Castle was built was just fields and wetlands. Bingo, including Fukuyama, was originally the territory of Fukushima Masanori, who served both Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu. However, when Masanori Fukushima was ousted for ``violating samurai laws,'' the land of Fukuyama was given to Katsunari Mizuno, a cousin of Tokugawa Ieyasu, with the intention of keeping an eye on powerful daimyo in the West, including the Mori clan. Masu.
From the construction of Fukuyama Castle to the end of the Edo period
Fukuyama Castle was a gigantic castle with a five-tiered castle tower, seven triple-tiered turrets, and a long gate turret. It is quite impressive for a feudal lord's castle with 100,000 koku. As mentioned above, Fukuyama Castle was built in 1615 after the One Country, One Castle Order was promulgated. Kannabe Castle was also considered as a candidate for Katsunari Mizuno's residence, but it was decided to build a new castle because it was too far inland and the castle had fallen several times in the past. The current Fukuyama Castle is located just behind JR Fukuyama Station, but it is said that when the castle was built, the sea was even closer, and the area around the castle was a mixture of wetlands and fields. Therefore, at the same time as building the castle, Katsunari Mizuno also took part in land reclamation in the surrounding area. Building a castle in the low-swamp area of Fukuyama was extremely difficult with the civil engineering technology available at the time. In particular, the work to divert the Ashida River to the Yoshitsu River north of the castle took years to complete due to flooding. The building materials for Fukuyama Castle are not only from Kannabe Castle but also from Fushimi Castle. According to records, the Fushimi Yagura, Tsukimi Yagura, palace (Fushimi Palace), bathhouse (Oyudono), Tetsumimon, Otemimon, and Tamon Yagura were relocated from Fushimi Castle. Construction of Fukuyama Castle began in the 20th year of the Keicho era, and it took nearly three years to complete in 1622. At that time, everything was treated as unusual, including being loaned 12,600 ryo of gold and 380 kan of silver from the shogunate's public funds. This also shows that Fukuyama Castle was considered important as a key location in Chinzei. Throughout the Edo period, Fukuyama Castle functioned as the domain office of the Bingo Fukuyama domain. At the end of the Edo period, during preparations to participate in the Second Choshu Expedition, there was an accident in which gunpowder exploded in a comb-shaped turret, and the adjacent yari turret, gun turret, and guardhouse were all burned down, including their weapons. In 1868, three years after the second conquest of Choshu, it was attacked again by the new government. However, Fukuyama Castle withstood this attack and ushered in the Meiji Restoration.
Fukuyama Castle after the Meiji era
After the Meiji Restoration, Fukuyama Castle was ordered to be abolished in 1873, and most of the buildings were dismantled, with the exception of the Fushimi turret, Sujitetsumon, Oyuden, Bell turret, Suzuyagura, and Honmaru. Sold. The inner moat and outer moat will also be sold and reclaimed, and will be used for schools, factories, residential areas, etc., including Fukuyama Station. The Honmaru was developed as Fukuyama Park in 1875 by people who wished to preserve it, but as the Honmaru became increasingly dilapidated and it was not possible to raise the cost for its repairs, it was completed in 1884. ) will be converted to Hiroshima Prefecture. However, because Hiroshima Prefecture did not actively preserve the park, not only the castle tower but also the park itself fell into disrepair. In 1896, volunteers who could not bear to see this devastation began efforts to preserve the main enclosure, and Fukuyama City, which was then known as Fukuyama Town, applied to the prefecture to transfer the park. is recognized. In 1897, Fukuyama City carried out repairs to the castle tower, Fushimi turret, Sujitetsu Gomon gate, and Oyuden, thanks to the activities that had been carried out up until now. As a result, the cultural value of Fukuyama Castle began to be reevaluated, and in the Showa era, the castle tower, Fushimi Yagura, Sujitetsu Gomon, and Oyuden were designated as national treasures. Fukuyama Park has also been maintained, and has become a famous cherry blossom viewing spot where cherry blossoms planted by volunteers are in full bloom in the spring. However, in 1945 (Showa 20), at the end of the Pacific War, most of the existing cultural assets such as the castle tower, bathhouse, and cool turret were destroyed by fire. After the war, the site of Fukuyama Castle remained as it was for more than 20 years, and the Sannomaru site became the Fukuyama urban area. In 1966, the castle tower, moon viewing turret, and hot spring palace were reconstructed as part of Fukuyama City's 50th anniversary commemoration project. After that, from around 1988, the Fukuyama Museum of Art and the Hiroshima Prefectural Museum of History were built on the west side of Sannomaru, and it was developed as a "cultural zone", but the outer moat, inner moat, etc. of "Fukuyama Castle" Most of the remains have been destroyed without being restored. In 2006 (Heisei 18), Fukuyama Castle was selected as one of Japan's 100 most famous castles, and since Fukuyama Castle is so close to JR Fukuyama Station that it can be said to be "adjacent" to it, it is important to preserve all of its remains while developing the city. It seems to be quite difficult to get it to work. Currently, the inside of Fukuyama Castle is a museum, displaying exhibits about the history of the Bingo Fukuyama clan as well as existing cultural assets.
summary
Fukuyama Castle is located almost directly behind JR Fukuyama Station, making it very easy to get to. There are also art galleries and museums nearby, making it a great place to learn about Bingo's history and culture.
History of the Fukuyama domain, with Fukuyama Castle as the domain office
Bingo Fukuyama DomainRuled by the powerful Fudai daimyo family
The Bingo Fukuyama domain was a domain that ruled over the eastern and southern parts of Hiroshima Prefecture and the southwestern part of Bicchu, which was known as ``Bingo Province'' during the Edo period. 100,000 koku (110,000 koku from the 7th lord of the Abe family, Masahiro Abe), and although he cannot be called a ``great daimyō'' in terms of stone height, he was the first generation of the Mizuno clan.
