Suwahara Castle

Architecture, patrimoine et histoire · Préfecture de Shizuoka

On the northern edge of the Makinohara Plateau, at about 200 m above sea level, Suwahara Castle watched over the point where the Tōkaidō road crosses the Ōi River, the gateway to Tōtōmi Province. The Takeda clan built it in 1573 under Takeda Katsuyori to support its offensive against the Tokugawa and the capture of Takatenjin Castle; it was named after a Suwa shrine brought from Shinano, the Suwa deities being the protectors of the Takeda house. After the defeat at Nagashino, Tokugawa Ieyasu besieged and took it in 1575, renamed it Makino Castle and used it against Takatenjin until that castle fell in 1581. Abandoned in 1590 when the Tokugawa were transferred to the Kantō, it served for only about fifteen years, which explains the exceptional clarity of its plan: concentric enclosures backed against the cliff, deep dry moats and semicircular barbicans (maru-umadashi) protected by crescent moats, the signature of Takeda engineers. A reconstructed gate now welcomes visitors.