Nakayama is in between Narita And Haneda International Airport

The Edojo Castle / The Short Summary Of The Edojo Castle

The Edojo Castle is now called the Imperial Palace at Marunouchi in Tokyo. It was also called Chiyodajo Castle. It is a flatland castle. The Edojo Castle owned by the Tokugawa Clan and also it was the base of Edo Bakufu (Edo Shogunate) in Edo Period.

From late Heian Period to Kamakura Period, there was a castle built by the Edo Clan, the descendants of Masatsune Chichibu, the grandchild of Yoshifumi Taira at Edo near the Edojo Castle However, it was not called Edojo Castle at that time.
In 1457, Dokan Ota, a samurai worrier in Muromachi Period, built Edo-jo castle. This is the first event that the Edojo Castle appeared on the history of Japan and it was also called Edojo first. After Dokan assassinated, his son named his direct descendant family Edo Ota Clan, and he based in the Edojo Castle. In 1524, Suketaka Ota surrendered to Hojo Clan in Odawara (Kanagawa prefecture) and opened the Edojo castle In 1564. After that, the descendants of Dokan Ota served Hojo in Odawara, Satomi in Awa-no-kuni (The southern Chiba prefecture)and Satake in Hitachi-no-kuni (Ibaraki prefecture), finally the Ota served Tokugawa in Edo. In 1590, Hideyoshi Toyotomi won the Siege of Odawara, the Hojo Clan ruined, the Satomi declined, the Satake moved to north, so Ieyasu Tokugawa moved to the Edo castle, and he gained the position of the Shogun who was the military leader of samurais could control Japan, so he founded the Bakufu (Edo Shogunate) in Edo.
In 1600, Ieyasu Tokugawa won the Battle of Sekigahara, and he gained the position of the Shogun who was the military leader of samurais could control Japan, so he founded the Bakufu (the Edo Shogunate)in Edo in 1603. When Ieyasu first moved in the Edojo Castle, it was very a simple and small castle, because Edo had been a small fishing village since Ieyasu moved. After the Sekigahara and gaining the leading power over samurais, he started the extension works of the castle with some voluntarily helps by some lords in Japan. Kiyomasa Kato of course helped it. The construction was completed in 1636. The area of the Edojo Castle was 958,811 square meter, and it has 123 gates, 30 bridges, a large castle tower, a small castle tower and 46 some kinds of castle towers. However ,it had fired severl time, then some have lost. Tokugawa Clan based the Edojo Caslte to control the samurai sosiety and Japan for 265 years. In 1867, Yoshinobu Tokugawa, the 15th shogun of Edo Bakufu opened the castle to the Imperial Troops. After the Meiji Restoration, the Edojo Castle changed the Imperial Palace.

Now the part of the castle opens for the citizens such as Kokyo Gaien National Park. In the garden, you could see the statue of Dokan Ota.


参考
宮内省ホームページ
環境省ホームページ
デジタル大辞林
明鏡国語辞典
ブリタニカ国際大百科
クロニック戦国全史
日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)
ウィッキペディア

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Dokan Ota / Sukenaga Ota

Dokan Ota / Sukenaga Ota (1432-1486)

Dokan Ota was a samurai worrier in middle of Muromachi period. His name was Sukenaga. Later he became a Buddhist priest and he named Shunen Dokan, so he is generally called Dokan Ota.
His father was Sukekiyo. Sukekiyo lived in Ota-go in Musashi province and served Ougigayatsu Uesugi Clan (One of the most influential clan to control Kanto region and one of the chief counselors of the shogun) and he built the castle at Kawagoe in Musashi-no-kuni (Kawagoe city, Saitama Prefecture) and controlled the area. Sukekiyo also became the principle retainaer of Ougigayatsu Uesugi and the vice military govenor of Sagami. In 1455, Dokan succeeded his father's position and he fought against Shigeuji Ashikaga to guard Akifusa Uesugi in the Battle of Kyotoku. Dokan is a very famous and popular samurai worrier since he built the castle at Edo (Tokyo) in 1457. Also he built Iwatsukijo and Kawagoejo Castle. Dokan and his father controlled most of Musashi and Sagami province instead of their boss. He famed in the fought against Kageharua Uesugi in 1476. Kageharu who was one of the strong retainers of Yamanouchi Uesugi Clan revolted against his boss Norisada Uesugi. Dokan supported Norisada and suppressed the rebellion with armed force. He outstandingly contributed to enhance the family prosperity of Ougigayatsu Uesugi Clan. However, he was assacinated by his boss, Sadamasa Uesugi in1486 since Norisada and Fusasada Uesgi made some false charges against Dokan as they would not like Ougigayatsu Uesugi Clan to flourish.
Dokan was deeply versed in military affairs especially he could manipulate foot soldiers ingeniously so he was called the master of military. Moreover he had a thorough knowledge of Japanese literature, so he was good at writing waka poems. He often held tanka parties at Edojo Castle and invited a famous poet in his ages Shukyu Bari and so forth.
There are some legends that Dokan Ota visited Ichikawa several times and he contributed in Ichikawa city. He built a tea house in Mamasan Guhoji Temple and he repaired some buildings in Katsushika Hachimangu in Yawata. And his descendants contributed Shochuzan Hokekyoji Temple in Nakayama.



参考
宮内省ホームページ
環境省ホームページ
真間山弘法寺ホームページ
葛飾八幡宮御由緒
中山法華経寺黒門案内板
デジタル大辞林
ブリタニカ国際大百科
クロニック戦国全史
デジタル版 日本人名大辞典
朝日日本歴史人物事典
日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)
ウィッキペディア

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