Tokutan Fort

En un regard

Le château en bref

Tokutan Fort continues the story of Shiwa, whose use had been compromised by the floods of the Shizukuishi River. According to Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs (Bunkachō), Fun'ya no Watamaro proposed this transfer in 811, and the new establishment was completed in 814. The chronology nevertheless varies between publications: the town of Yahaba dates it to around 812, while a report from Morioka gives the fourth year of the Kōnin era, that is 813. It is therefore better to speak of a foundation in the years 811-814 than of a single date. Yahaba presents it as the last stronghold built northwards by the ritsuryō state. The site is more modest in size than Shiwa: a square of about 350 m east to west by 353 m north to south. The excavations, seven campaigns conducted between 1947 and 1967 according to the national record and later interventions, revealed a fence of close-set logs 15 to 20 cm in diameter, three gates with earth-set posts, eight identified towers and eastern corners that bend inwards. According to the town, rammed-earth walls occupy the higher ground to the north, and the logs the wetter parts. Designated on 5 August 1969, with an addition on 26 July 2007, the site is laid out as a park next to a local museum. The end of its activity, placed by one guide around 830-840, remains poorly established.