This is all about Yonezawa Castle Ruins you want to know.
Every information you get on this site will be from a credible source based on Japanese history (books for reference).
Collected by the Inagaki family, the Toba Daimyō from the mid-Edo period to the Meiji Restoration, as materials for military studies. There are about 350 illustrations, but there is no uniformity because only illustrations of castles, illustrations including castle towns, and old battlefield illustrations are mixed.
Another typical example of a castle picture in the Edo period is "The Shōhō Shiroezu", picture of the castle and castle town that the Edo Shogunate ordered the daimyō to create and submit,aggregating military information such as the buildings inside the castle, the height of the stone wall, the width of the moat and the water depth, etc., it also details the location and shape of the castle town and the mountain river.
Profile : Yonezawa Castle Ruins
| Location | Yonezawa City, Yamagata Prefecture |
| Also known as | Maizuru Castle, Matsugasaki Castle |
| Type of castle | Flatland |
| Mountain's name | ー |
| Elevation | ー |
| Condition | No main keep but other buildings |
| Designation | ー |
| Year built | about 1238 |
| Abolished | 1871 |
| Castle lord | Nagai Tokihiro |
| Refurbishment lord | Date Harumune |
The family crest was originally created from the pattern that the emperor and the royal family put on the kimono, and the pattern was made into a fixed pattern, and the one attached to his own oxcart is said to be the beginning of the family crest. The warlords drew large crests on the flag-fingers, used to distinguish enemy views on the battlefield, and used by the generals to determine which warlords were active and how much.
Yonezawa Castle admission
admission fee : free ※Matsugasaki Park
admission time : free
closing period : open everyday reference official site
Yonezawa Castle Google Map
Yonezawa Castle Images
Yonezawa District was ruled by Nagai Clan who built a castle from the Kamakura period, but eventually came under the control of Date Clan. They moved to Yonezawa in 1548, and Date Masamune was later born in this castle. Masamune moved to Iwadeyama Castle at the order of Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1591. Yonezawa Castle was renovated by Gamō Clan and became a castle of Naoe Kanetsugu , who was the chief retainer of Uesugi family in 1598. After the Battle of Sekigahara, Kanetsugu carried out a large-scale expansion work as an early modern castle in 1608.
There are two large and prominent military flags at Maizuru-bashi Bridge, which is located on the approach to Uesugi Shrine. The letters "毘" (right side) and "龍" (left side) are written on the flag. These two letters each have a story about Uesugi Kenshin. The “毘” flag refers to the war god, Bishamonten, and the heart of Kenshin who had a deep faith in Bishamonten appeared. The word "龍" is written in broken letters. This is said to be the flag that was raised when making a total attack with all units, and it seems that raising this flag was the signal of the assault. It is said that Kenshin, who had a deep faith in Buddhism, put his soul and god in the flag by raising the flag of "龍".
Built on the ruins of the Oku-goten of Honmaru of this Castle, where Uesugi Kenshin, the ancestor of Yonezawa, said to be one of the strongest Sengoku warlords. is enshrined. It is a very popular place as a power spot where you can get the power of Kenshin.
Uesugi Kagekatsu was adopted by Uesugi Kenshin, and after the death of Kenshin, who had no children, he succeeded to the inheritance of the Uesugi family and became the owner of the family as the successor to Kenshin. Naoe Kanetsugu is renowned as the close servant who supported Kagekatsu as the master.
A bright vermilion bridge over the south moat of the Honmaru site. During the Edo period, this bridge was the south entrance to the palace where the feudal lord of Honmaru had lived, and the traffic was strictly controlled (from signboard).
The ninth lord of the Yonezawa Clan. Known as one of the best names in the Edo period, the wise man who was honored by the Tokugawa shogunate as a model after that time. In today's world, it is a pride of our country to be highly evaluated over time, with the topic of being named as a Japanese respected by well-known overseas politicians (※). The Yonezawa Clan faced a number of challenges, including accumulated debt, distress of the vassals and disorder of order, and the devastation of rural areas and population decline due to natural disasters and excessive tax burden.
（※）⇒ Caroline Kennedy, the eldest daughter of John F. Kennedy and former U.S. ambassador to Japan, visited Yonezawa City in September 2014 at the request of Yamagata Prefecture and the City. In her speech, she introduced an episode in which her father, Kennedy, highly praised Uesugi Yōzan (From wikipedia)
Thousands of valuable items and national treasures related to Uesugi family are stored.
reference ⇒ official site
Link-1 : A castle closely related to Uesugi Kenshin
【north japan】Kasugayama Castle 【north japan】Nanao Castle 【east japan】Odawara Castle 【north japan】Yonezawa Castle
Link-2 : A castle closely related to Date Masamune
【north japan】Sendai Castle 【north japan】Shiroishi Castle 【north japan】Yonezawa Castle