Tamaru Castle Ruins （Tamaki Town, Watarai District, Mie Prefecture）

　Tamaru Castle was selected as one of "Continuation of Japan's Top 100 Castles".

　"The Japan Castle Association" is a public interest incorporated foundation, it selected for "Japan's Top 100 Castles" to commemorate its 40th anniversary, after 10 years later, it to commemorate its 50th anniversary, they were selected as "Continuation of Japan's Top 100 Castles".

　Tamaru Castle was also one of the Top Castles selected at that time.

Tamaru's Castle Tower Ruin

　The history of Tamaru Castle dates back to the Nanboku-cho period(Late 14th century).

　It was built in 1336 as a branch castle of the Kitabatake clan, which ruled the central and southern part of Ise country(Now Mie Prefecture) at the time.

　The Kitabatake clan, one unique feudal lord from the Sengoku period(1467-1568), it rose to power in the area for about 250 years until the end of the Sengoku period(16th century).　

　During the mid -Heian period(10th century), Morohusa is the grandson of the 62nd Emperor Murakami, he became a subject and took the surname Minamot, and then he becoming Murakami-Genji. It unlike the Seiwa-Genji clan which was a prestigious samurai family, they were active as court aristocrats.

　The branch family is the Kitabatake clan. During the Nanboku-cho period, Kitabatake Chikafusa was a senior vassal of the Southern Court, who became the founder of the Ise Kitabatake clan.

　Despite being a member of the court aristocracy, the Kitabatake clan expanded its influence in Ise country and served as the governor of Ise country until the Sengoku period.

　During the era of giant killing, even though as the imperial family was in decline but also the Fujiwara clan increased, but it's increased their military power and became a feudal lord during the Sengoku period.

　At the end of the Sengoku period, Oda Nobunaga was expanding his power, he invaded Ise and Iga country(Now western Mie Prefecture). The Kitabatake clan did not oppose Nobunaga and concluded a peace treaty in 1569.

　As a result of the peace agreement, Nobunaga's second son Nobukatsu was made the head of the Kitabatake clan in exchange for the continued existence of the Kitabatake clan.

　This is a tactic often used by feudal lords to incorporate another feudal lord's clan.

　When pushing too hard would cause damage, a compromise solution is to keep the feudal lord's name but replace the head of the clan.

　This is similar to current M&A where is remain for the company and company name, but the president and other executives are dispatched from the acquiring company, when it making a substantial subsidiary.

　During Nobukatsu time, Tamaru Castle was extensively renovated and a three-tier "Castle Tower" was built.

　A full-scale castle tower first appeared in 1576 at Azuchi Castle in Shiga Prefecture.

　Since then, the synonym for castle as castle tower has become popular throughout the country. The castle tower of Tamaru Castle was built at the same time as Azuchi Castle and can be said to be one of the earliest castle towers.

　The castle tower is the castle's command tower.

　When attacked, the castle tower monitors the attack and defense situation and directs the soldiers. During the Edo period of peace and peace, when each feudal domain across the country built a castle tower in its castle as a matter of course.

View from the ruins of Tamaru Castle tower

　However, it is not actually used and becomes a symbol tower.

　It's not because there's no war.

　In the Edo period, feudal lords followed rules about when to wake up and go to bed and also what to do that day.

　If the feudal lord acted on his own, it would violate the Edo Shogunate's laws for Act for Military House and there was a possibility that the feudal domain would be abolished.

　The feudal lord in the Edo period when so to speak a company president.

　He can be said to be one person of samurai who faithfully fulfills the role of lord.

　The only time the feudal lord climbs the castle tower is when the Shogun's envoy visits the domain.

　The feudal lord welcomes the envoys on the top floor of the castle tower. Many feudal lords climb the castle tower several times a year and someone never climbs it.

　The view of the castle town from the castle tower on a sunny day is a work of fiction.

　In the first place, the castle tower is a control tower in case of an emergency and it is difficult to go up and down and also the rooms are simple. Naturally, the feudal lord did not sleep in the castle tower.

　The exception is Oda Nobunaga.

　For the castle tower of Azuchi Castle, he created gorgeous paintings on the sliding doors depicting Chinese stories and great figures. Nobunaga was the only feudal lord who actually lived in a castle tower.

　In fact, Azuchi Castle is more of a luxurious mansion than a "Castle". Although Nijo-jo Castle in Kyoto City is called a "Castle", it is actually a mansion and its purpose was to entertain feudal lords and others and show off its power.

　During the era of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the Kitabatake clan became the lords of Tamaru Castle again, but they were expelled when they joined Ishida Mitsunari's western army at Sekigahara.

　After that, several feudal lords changed hands in a short period of time, and in 1619, the castle became the territory of the Kishu Tokugawa family. After that the chief retainer of the Kishu Tokugawa family served as the lord of the castle.

　In reality, a deputy chief retainer ruled the castle town of Tamaru Castle as the castle owner when leading to the Meiji Restoration.

　In 1928, after the abolition of the feudal domain and the establishment of prefectures, when Ryuhei Murayama of a local native who founded the Asahi Shimbun Company purchased it and donated Tamaru Castle to Tamaru Town. Since then, the town has managed it as the castle owner.