Fushimi Castle, also known as Momoyama Castle or Fushimi-Momoyama Castle. Fushimi Castle is located on a hill, in other words a hilltop castle, which is known in Japanese as a 'Teikakushiki'. Through numerous instances of being built, burned, and then rebuilt again -- even dismantled and scattered throughout Kyoto -- this modern replica was built in 1964 and stands today made of mostly concrete. Its history is long and complicated. The very first version of the castle was built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi -- one of Japan's most famous historical characters -- in 1592, the year after his retirement from the regency. It took two years to build with a grand total of more than 20,000 workers from twenty provinces working on it, with many elaborate rooms, such as a tea ceremony room plated entirely in gold leaf. Though it looked like a Castle on the outside, it was really meant to be a retirement palace for Hideyoshi, and he had also planned to use it for peace talks with Chinese diplomats seeking an end to the Seven-year War in Korea. Through a stroke of bad luck, though, it was destroyed in an earthquake two years after its building. Hideyoshi re-commissioned the Castle in 1597, 500 meters away from the original site; however, Hideyoshi died before he could see the second version completed and the Toyotomi clan moved to Osaka Castle in 1598. Thus, the castle came to be controlled by Torii Mototada, a vassal of Tokugawa Ieyasu and a vital figure in Japanese history. In 1600, during a war when Japan had split into two factions -- the army of the East led by Tokugawa and the army of the West led by Mouri Terutomo -- Fushimi Castle went under siege by Ishida Mitsunari. In an act of bravery, Torii Mototada defended the Castle for eleven days, allowing time for his lord Tokunaga to amass an army which would tip the scales in his favor at the final Battle of Sekigahara. This Battle marked the final victory of Tokugawa Ieyasu over all his rivals. At the end of the eleven days, Torii and his men committed suicide and the castle was destroyed by fire. The castle was soon reconstructed in 1602 under the order of Tokugawa Ieyasu. However, in 1619 a decision was made to dismantle the castle and incorporate its parts into temples all over Japan. Spectacularly, to this day you can see in several temples in Kyoto such as Yogen-in, Genko-an, and Hosen-in a blood-stained ceiling which was the floor of the corridor at Fushimi Castle where Torii Mototada committed suicide. Finally, in 1625, the castle was abandoned for what seemed to be for good. In 1912 the tomb of Emperor Meiji was built on the original site of the castle, and in 1964 the final replica was completed. The castle had served as the museum of the life and campaigns of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, but it was closed to the public in 2003.

• published: 01 Feb 2012
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