Kakegawa Castle

Kakegawa Castle, located in Kakegawa City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, is a historic Japanese castle with a rich cultural background. It was originally situated in the former Sano District of Tōtōmi Province. Since the Sengoku period, the castle served as a key strategic point along the Tōkaidō route and was often the stage of political and military power struggles.

According to tradition, the first Kakegawa Castle was built by Asahina Yasuhiro, a retainer of Imagawa Yoshitada, during the Bunmei era (1469–1487) of the 15th century on Ryūtōzan (Dragon Head Mountain). The original site was on Kozunoyama, but in 1513, it was relocated to its current location. The Asahina clan ruled the castle for generations until 1568, when Imagawa Ujizane, facing attacks from both Takeda Shingen and Tokugawa Ieyasu, took refuge in Kakegawa Castle. This led to a siege by Tokugawa forces, which ended in a negotiated surrender, allowing Tokugawa retainers Ishikawa Ienari and his son Yasutada to take control.

Under Tokugawa rule, the castle remained in the clan’s hands until 1590, when Tokugawa Ieyasu was transferred to the Kantō region. Yamauchi Kazutoyo, under the Toyotomi regime, entered Kakegawa as lord with a fief of 51,000 koku. He carried out major renovations, adding stone walls, a tenshu (main keep), and tiled-roof buildings, giving the castle the scale and appearance of an early modern Japanese fortress.

In the Edo period, Yamauchi Kazutoyo was transferred to Tosa Province, and Kakegawa Castle was subsequently governed by several fudai daimyō (hereditary lords). Eventually, it came under the control of the Ōta clan, descendants of Ōta Dōkan. In the 1854 Ansei-Tōkai earthquake, most of the structures, including the tenshu, collapsed, with only the Ninomaru Palace rebuilt in 1861. The other buildings were never restored.

In modern times, the castle has undergone multiple reconstructions and restorations. In 1994, a wooden reconstruction of the tenshu was completed — the first such wooden castle keep restoration in Japan — covering an area of 92.3 tsubo, with a total cost exceeding 1 billion yen, faithfully reproducing its historical form. In 1995, the Ōtemon Gate was also rebuilt in wood, though relocated about 50 meters north of its original location due to traffic considerations. In 2006, Kakegawa Castle was selected as one of Japan’s Top 100 Castles.

The existing Ninomaru Palace is an Edo-period building designated as an Important Cultural Property of Japan in 1980. It preserves the original room layout and lighting methods of the time and is open to the public, with an admission fee of 410 yen for adults and 150 yen for children (elementary and junior high school students).

In addition to its main structures, remnants such as stone walls, earthen embankments, and parts of the moats remain. Some original castle buildings have been relocated for preservation. For example, the Ōte-ninomaru Gate is now the main gate of Yusanji Temple in Fukuroi City and is also designated as an Important Cultural Property; the Taiko Yagura was moved from the Sannomaru to the Honmaru and is still preserved; and the Ōtemon guardhouse, a late-Edo structure, is designated as a municipal cultural property. The “Fuki-no-mon” now serves as the gate of Enmanji Temple in Kakegawa City, while Ryūunji Temple retains what is believed to be a former castle gate.

Takenomaru, originally a samurai residence area, was purchased in the Meiji period by the Matsumoto family and converted into a wealthy merchant’s mansion. Today it belongs to Kakegawa City and, after restoration in 2009, is open to the public. It fully reflects the architectural style of an upper-class Meiji residence and includes a small garden, and is recognized as a Tangible Cultural Property.