Koriyama Castle: Sakura Paradise!
Tsutsui Junkei, The Warrior Who Unified Yamato, Builds a Castle in Koriyama!
Kōriyama Castle was a Japanese castle in what is now the city of Yamato-Kōriyama, Nara Prefecture, Japan. The Sengoku daimyo Tsutsui Junkei started construction of the castle, and Toyotomi Hidenaga made it his residence. In the Edo period, it became the headquarters of the Kōriyama Domain. During this time it was held variously by members of the Mizuno, Okudaira Matsudaira, Honda, Fujii Matsudaira, and Yanagisawa clans.
Today, many walls and moats are preserved in a public park in the city. The Yanagisawa Shrine stands within the grounds.
Many influential warriors battled to gain power over this region. However, in the Edo period a succession of dominant lords were deployed to rule Koriyama realm.
It was Tsutsui Junkei who united the Yamato province by overcoming the rising local samurais, one after another. His achievement of Yamato unification, supported by Oda Nobunaga, took place in 1576, and his entrance into Koriyama Castle was accomplished in 1580. Koriyama was a bustling area where markets stood in rows, but Junkei's arrival brought even more prosperity to the town.
There is a famous episode about Junkei. After the Incident of Honnō-ji in 1582,(The Incident at Honnō-ji refers to the forced suicide on June 21, 1582 of Japanese daimyo Oda Nobunaga at the hands of his samurai general Akechi Mitsuhide. This occurred in Honnō-ji, a temple in Kyoto, ending Nobunaga's quest to consolidate centralized power in Japan under his authority.) Junkei was asked by his ally Akechi Mitsuhide, to send troops to Horagatoge pass for military assistance. However, impressed by the superior forces of the opponent, Junkei brooded over whether to accept Mitsuhide's demand, but finally he made up his mind to wait and see which side to take. This incident has been handed down through a Japanese sayingHoragatoge o kimekomu or to wait and see at Horagatoge, which is now used in a negative sense, to come down on the right side of the fence.
郡山城 ( Koriyama Castle )
豊臣政権では秀吉の弟秀長の居城となり、江戸時代には郡山藩の藩庁が置かれた。
15世紀初頭、増田長盛が改易された後一時廃城となるが、水野勝成入封時に徳川幕府よって改修を受けた。
その後は譜代大名が歴代城主を務め、柳沢吉里が入封後は柳沢氏が明治維新まで居城とした。
桜の名所として、日本さくら名所100選に選定されている。
使用機材:Panasonic HDC-TM30
Koriyama Castle was a Japanese castle in what is now the city of Yamatokōriyama, Nara Prefecture, Japan. The Sengoku daimyo Tsutsui Junkei started construction of the castle, and Toyotomi Hidenaga made it his residence In the Edo period, it became the headquarters of the Kōriyama Domain. During this time it was held variously by members of the Mizuno, Okudaira Matsudaira, Honda, Fujii Matsudaira, and Yanagisawa clans.
Today, many walls and moats are preserved in a public park in the city. The Yanagisawa Shrine stands within the grounds.