Ōdaka Castle | |
Nativename-A: | 大高城 |
Location: | Midori-ku, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan |
Map Type: | Japan Aichi Prefecture#Japan |
Map Relief: | 1 |
Coordinates: | 35.0694°N 136.9425°W |
Type: | hirajiro-style Japanese castle |
Open To Public: | park |
Condition: | Ruins |
Built: | Muromachi period |
Used: | Sengoku period |
was a Sengoku period flatland-style Japanese castle located in what is now part of Midori Ward of the city of Nagoya, Aichi in the Tōkai region of Japan. The ruins, together with that of the detached fortresses of and have been collectively protected as a National Historic Site since 1944.[1]
It is not known when Ōdaka Castle was built, but records indicate that Toki Yoriyasu (1318-1388), the Nanboku-chō period shugo of Owari Province made Ikeda Yoritada castellan of Ōdaka, so the castle dates to at least this time. It was later held by the Mizuno clan, but in the Tenbun era (1532-1555), the castle was controlled by Oda Nobuhide. In 1548, it was unsuccessfully attacked by the forces of Imagawa Yoshimoto. However, after Oda Nobuhide's death, it fell into Imagawa hands with the defection of Yamaguchi Noritsugu together with Narumi Castle and Kitsukake Castle, as Yamaguchi despised Nobuhide's son, Oda Nobunaga. Nobunaga responded by construction of the fortresses of Marune and Washizu in 1559, and the Imagawa responded by installing Udono Nagateru as castellan of Ōdaka. Matsudaira Motoyasu (later known as Tokugawa Ieyasu) was sent by Imagawa Yoshimoto to assist Udono Nagateru at Ōdaka, but upon hearing word of Imagawa Yoshimoto's death at the Battle of Okehazama turned instead to recover his ancestral home at Okazaki Castle and declared his independence from the Imagawa clan. [2]
Ōdaka Castle was abandoned soon afterwards. The site was later occupied by the residence of the hereditary karō of Owari Domain, the Shimizu clan, until the Meiji restoration.[2]
The site is now the Odaka Castle Ruins Park, with some remnants of its kuruwa, double moats and earthen ramparts. The site of the tenshu in the inner bailey is slightly elevated, and is now occupied by a small Shinto shrine, the Shiroyama Hachiman-sha. It is located about 10 minutes on foot from the JR Central Tōkaidō Main Line Ōdaka Station.[2]