Hirosaki Castle

In 1588, Tsugaru Tamenobu, the first lord of the Hirosaki Domain, achieved independence from the Nanbu clan, his former overlord, and unified the Tsugaru region.

Thereafter, Tamenobu decided to build a new castle in order to govern Tsugaru, and selected the present-day site of Hirosaki. This is said to have taken place in 1603. At that time, the area was known by its former name, Takaoka (Takaoka / Takaoka-).

▶ Castle Construction Plan

The castle construction project made little progress, and Tamenobu died in Kyoto in 1607 before seeing it completed.

His son and second lord, Nobuhira, inherited his father’s wishes and completed Takaoka Castle in 1611. At the time of completion, a five-story keep towered over the castle. The stone walls now known as the site of the Honmaru Mishin Yagura once served as the keep’s stone foundation.

However, in 1627, this five-story keep was destroyed by fire. The following year, the old name Takaoka was changed to Hirosaki, reportedly with the intention of warding off evil.

▶ The Keep That Led to the Present Day

After that, Hirosaki Castle remained for a long time without a keep. This is said to be because the shogunate did not grant the Hirosaki Domain permission to build a new one.

The existing three-story keep was built in 1810 during the rule of the ninth lord of the Hirosaki Domain, Nobuoki. It is said to have been newly constructed after dismantling the Honmaru Tatsumi Yagura, which had stood at its present location.

The reason the shogunate granted permission to build a new keep is generally thought to be that, a few years earlier, the Hirosaki Domain had been assigned to guard Ezochi (present-day Hokkaido) and was recognized for its achievements, and also because Russian ships were sailing through the Tsugaru Strait at the time, making defense of the area necessary.

It is also said that this building was merely a substitute for a keep and was called a “Gosan-kai Yagura” at the time.

▶ The Present Keep

Although the year of construction is relatively recent, it retains older architectural features: there are no iron doors on the east and south sides facing the moat, only arrow slits; the first and second stories have projecting central sections; and gabled dormers and stone-dropping openings are installed.

In addition, while the first story has a floor plan of 5 ken by 6 ken, each successive story from the second and third becomes one ken smaller, and it is said that when viewed from the Ninomaru side, the use of gabled dormers and loopholes was intended to make the keep appear larger and more imposing.

On the other hand, the north and west sides facing the inside of the Honmaru have neither gables nor loopholes, and the windows are made larger to allow more light in. As an extant keep built during the Edo period, it is the only one in the Tohoku region, and although modest in scale, it is considered one of the representative keeps in Japan.

Now relocated to the temporary keep foundation, it mainly exhibits materials related to the moving of Hirosaki Castle’s keep. Admission is free for viewing, but separate admission to the Honmaru is required.