Hirosaki Castle

Timeline

1. 1590

   Tsugaru Independence

   After the Odawara campaign, Oura Tamenobu received a vermilion-seal letter from Toyotomi Hideyoshi for 45,000 koku, declared independence from the Nambu, and adopted the surname Tsugaru.

2. 1600

   Hirosaki Domain Established

   Tamenobu sided with Tokugawa Ieyasu at the Battle of Sekigahara and received an additional 2,000 koku, formalising the 47,000-koku Hirosaki Domain.

3. 1610-1611

   Takaoka Castle Completed

   Tsugaru Nobuhira resumed his father's plans and completed Takaoka Castle in just one year and one month, crowned by a five-story keep on the inner bailey's southwest corner.

4. 1627

   Original Keep Destroyed

   Lightning struck the five-story keep and ignited stored gunpowder; the explosion consumed the keep, the main palace, and several yagura, and no keep would stand here for nearly two centuries.

5. 1628

   Renamed 'Hirosaki'

   Takaoka was renamed Hirosaki on the suggestion of the priest Tenkai, spiritual mentor of lord Nobuhira, and the castle's name was changed accordingly.

6. 1810-1811

   Current Tenshu Built

   Citing Russian ships in the Tsugaru Strait, ninth lord Yasuchika won shogunal permission to 'remodel' the Tatsumi corner turret into the current three-story keep, completed in 1811.

7. 1873

   Abolition Order Survived

   Hirosaki came under army control with the Meiji abolition order but escaped wholesale demolition; the main palace and martial-arts hall were dismantled in 1884.

8. 1895

   Hirosaki Park Opens

   Following a petition by the former Tsugaru lords, Hirosaki City took over the grounds, opened them as Hirosaki Park, and began planting cherry trees from 1903.

9. 1937-1953

   Cultural Property Designations

   Eight structures were named 'old national treasures' in 1937, reclassified as Important Cultural Properties in 1950, and joined by the Third Bailey East Gate in 1953.

10. 1952

    National Historic Site

    The castle grounds were designated a National Historic Site, later expanded in 1985 and 2002 to form 'Tsugaru Clan Castle Sites' covering three related castles.

11. 2006

    Top 100 Castles of Japan

    The Japan Castle Foundation chose Hirosaki as the fourth of Japan's 100 Fine Castles, and the city celebrated the castle's 400th anniversary throughout 2011.

12. 2015-

    Hikiya Relocation

    To rebuild the swelling inner-bailey stone foundation, the tenshu was relocated by 'hikiya' onto a temporary base, with a return scheduled for 2025 or later.

Detailed History

Hirosaki Castle traces its origins to 1590, when Oura Tamenobu — a former Nambu retainer — received a vermilion-seal letter from Toyotomi Hideyoshi confirming him as lord of 45,000 koku for his role at Odawara, at which point he adopted the surname Tsugaru. In 1594 he moved his seat to Horikoshi Castle, but the cramped site offered poor defenses. After siding with Tokugawa Ieyasu at Sekigahara in 1600, he received an additional 2,000 koku and Hirosaki Domain was formalised at 47,000 koku. In 1603 he began work on a castle at Takaoka, the present site, but died in Kyoto in 1604 before the project could advance. His successor Tsugaru Nobuhira resumed in 1609, stripping materials from Horikoshi and Oura Castles, and completed Takaoka Castle in 1611 — a feat finished in roughly one year, crowned by a five-story keep on the inner bailey's southwest corner. Disaster struck in 1627 when lightning ignited gunpowder inside the keep, triggering an explosion that destroyed the keep, the main palace, and several yagura; local lore blamed the curse of Tamenobu's aunt. For nearly two centuries no keep stood here. In 1810, ninth lord Yasuchika, citing Russian ships in the Tsugaru Strait, won shogunal permission to 'rebuild' the Tatsumi corner turret as a three-story tenshu, finished in 1811. After the Meiji Restoration the castle came under the Ministry of War in 1872, was spared by the 1873 abolition order despite the 1884 demolition of the main palace, and in 1894 was leased to Hirosaki City, which opened it as Hirosaki Park the next year. Cherry-tree plantings began in 1903. Eight structures were named 'old national treasures' in 1937; the 1950 Cultural Properties Protection Law reclassified them as Important Cultural Properties, with the Third Bailey East Gate added in 1953. The grounds were inscribed as a National Historic Site in 1952, expanded in 1985 and 2002 under 'Tsugaru Clan Castle Sites' covering Hirosaki, Horikoshi, and Tanesato Castles. In 2006 Hirosaki was chosen as one of Japan's 100 Fine Castles. From 2015 the keep has been relocated by 'hikiya' so its swelling foundation can be rebuilt, with a return scheduled for 2025 or later.

Cultural Significance

Hirosaki Castle holds a singular place as the northernmost — and only east-of-Kanto — surviving tenshu among Japan's twelve original keeps. Together with the keep, the three corner yagura of the second bailey and five gates form a nine-structure ensemble all designated National Important Cultural Properties, an unusually intact Edo-period inventory. The grounds are protected as the National Historic Site 'Tsugaru Clan Castle Sites,' a combined inscription covering Hirosaki, Horikoshi, and Tanesato Castles totaling roughly 1,054,000 square meters. The park is listed among Japan's 100 Famous Cherry-Blossom Spots, the 100 Fine Castles, and the three great sakura destinations of Japan. The novelist Shiba Ryotaro, in 'Kaido wo Yuku: Kita no Mahoroba,' called Hirosaki one of the Seven Famous Castles of Japan. Older names linger — 'Takaoka-jo' from the pre-1628 place name, and 'Yoyo-en' from the 1908 imperial naming by Crown Prince Yoshihito. The annual Sakura Matsuri in late April, the Chrysanthemum and Maple Festival in late October, and the Yuki-doro Matsuri in early February together make three of Hirosaki's Four Great Festivals, anchoring the cultural calendar of the Tsugaru region.

Architectural Details

The plan of Hirosaki Castle is a 'teikaku-shiki' hill-flat castle on the Tsugaru Plain, composed of six concentric baileys and originally measuring 612 meters east-west by 947 meters north-south, totaling roughly 385,200 square meters. The surviving tenshu is a three-story layered keep of 14.4 meters — the shortest of Japan's twelve survivors. It was once paired on its northern side with an attached multi-roomed yagura, but that was demolished around 1896, leaving the present free-standing form. The walls are finished in white shikkui plaster with nageshi mouldings above and below the windows, and the roofs are clad in copper tiles for the snowy climate. The east and south facades are richly modeled with chidori-hafu gables and large kirizuma bay windows on the lower stories, while the inward-facing west and north walls have no gables and only plain renji-mado lattice windows — the famous 'two-sided' composition. Even the interior was built with ordinary yagura-grade timber, suggesting the building was conceived from the outset as a storehouse. The stone walls are largely 'nozura-zumi' rough-laid; the inner-bailey stone beneath the keep is 'uchikomi-hagi' cut-and-fitted Edo work, and the 2015 hikiya was undertaken to rebuild that swelling foundation before the keep returns to its perch.