was a Japanese castle

Japanese castle

' were fortresses composed primarily of wood and stone. They evolved from the wooden stockades of earlier centuries, and came into their best-known form in the 16th century...

 located in the city of Numazu

Numazu, Shizuoka

is a city located in eastern Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of 2009, the city has an estimated population of 205,636 and a population density of 1,100 persons per km². The total area was 187.11 km².- Geography:...

, Shizuoka Prefecture

Shizuoka Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region on Honshu island. The capital is the city of Shizuoka.- History :Shizuoka prefecture was formed from the former Tōtōmi, Suruga and Izu provinces.The area was the home of the first Tokugawa Shogun...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. It was a hirayama-jō, a castle built on a plains rather than a hill or mountain. During the Edo period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

, Numazu castle was home to the Mizuno clan

Mizuno clan

The was a Japanese clan which claimed descent from the Seiwa Genji branch of the Minamoto clan. In the Edo period, the Mizuno clan produced many men who were fudai daimyo serving the Tokugawa shogun, as well as countless families of hatamoto...

, daimyō

Daimyo

is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...

of Numazu Domain

Numazu Domain

' was a Japanese feudal domain of the Edo period, located in Suruga Province. Numazu was a Fudai domain. It was centered on what is now the city of Numazu, Shizuoka.-History:...

.

History

In April 1777, when the former wakadoshiyori

Wakadoshiyori

The ', or "Junior Elders", were high government officials in 17th century Tokugawa Japan. The position was established around 1631, but appointments were irregular until 1662....

Mizuno Tadatomo was transferred from Ohama Domain

Ohama Domain

The ' was a short-lived Japanese domain of the Edo period, located in Shinano Province . The sole lord of Ōhama was Mizuno Tadatomo. Tadatomo, who had previously been a high-income hatamoto with holdings in the Saku district of Shinano Province, served as a page and later an assistant to the 10th...

 in Mikawa province

Mikawa Province

is an old province in the area that today forms the eastern half of Aichi Prefecture. It was sometimes called . Mikawa bordered on Owari, Mino, Shinano, and Tōtōmi Provinces....

 to Numazu, he was assigned revenues of 20,000 koku and authorized to build a castle. The site he chose was the ruins of , a Sengoku period

Sengoku period

The or Warring States period in Japanese history was a time of social upheaval, political intrigue, and nearly constant military conflict that lasted roughly from the middle of the 15th century to the beginning of the 17th century. The name "Sengoku" was adopted by Japanese historians in reference...

 fortification which had been erected by Takeda Katsuyori

Takeda Katsuyori

was a Japanese daimyo of the Sengoku Period, who was famed as the head of the Takeda clan and the successor to the legendary warlord Takeda Shingen. He was the son of Shingen by the , the daughter of Suwa Yorishige...

 in 1579, and destroyed in 1614, when the Numazu area became a tenryō territory after the death of Ōkubo Tadasuke

Okubo Tadasuke

was a Japanese daimyo of the Sengoku period through early Edo period....

. The castle consisted of three concentric moats forming three bailey

Ward (fortification)

In fortifications, a bailey or ward refers to a courtyard enclosed by a curtain wall. In particular, an early type of European castle was known as a Motte-and-bailey. Castles can have more than one ward. Their layout depends both on the local topography and the level of fortification technology...

s. The keep was a three-story structure.

Numazu prospered in the Edo period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

 as Numazu-juku

Numazu-juku

was the twelfth of the fifty-three stations of the Tōkaidō. It is located in the present-day city of Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.-History:Numazu was the eastern-most post station within Suruga Province, and was the castle town of the daimyo of Numazu Domain...

 on the Tōkaidō

Tokaido (road)

The ' was the most important of the Five Routes of the Edo period, connecting Edo to Kyoto in Japan. Unlike the inland and less heavily travelled Nakasendō, the Tōkaidō travelled along the sea coast of eastern Honshū, hence the route's name....

, and eight generations of the Mizuno clan resided at Numazu castle, with their revenues eventually rising to 50,000 koku.

After the Meiji Restoration

Meiji Restoration

The , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, Reform or Renewal, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868...

, Numazu Domain was abolished with the creation of Shizuoka Domain for the retired ex-Shōgun

Shogun

A was one of the hereditary military dictators of Japan from 1192 to 1867. In this period, the shoguns, or their shikken regents , were the de facto rulers of Japan though they were nominally appointed by the emperor...

 Tokugawa Yoshinobu

Tokugawa Yoshinobu

was the 15th and last shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. He was part of a movement which aimed to reform the aging shogunate, but was ultimately unsuccessful...

 in July 1868. However, in 1873, the Meiji government ordering the dismantling of all castles and fortifications in Japan. Numazu castle was destroyed, its moats filled in, and its land sold to private holders.

Today, all that remains is a small park with a monument marking the site of the donjon in the inner bailey, and a small fragment of the stone walls lining part of the old moats.