Tottori Castle

Architecture, patrimoine et histoire · Préfecture de Tottori

Tottori Castle covers almost all of Mount Kyūshō (263 m), whose silhouette dominates the city and from which the plain, the Sea of Japan and the dunes can be seen. Founded in the mid-16th century by a branch of the Yamana, it became the chief stronghold of Inaba Province. It owes its fame to the siege of 1581: Hashiba (Toyotomi) Hideyoshi, Oda Nobunaga's general, surrounded the castle held by Kikkawa Tsuneie for the Mōri and cut off all supplies; after about four months of famine, Tsuneie took his own life to save his men. Hideyoshi's command post on Mount Honjin opposite is part of the protected site under the name Taikōgahira. Until then an earthwork fortress, the castle received stone walls under Miyabe Keijun and was enlarged by the Ikeda, especially after 1617, when Ikeda Mitsumasa made it the seat of the large Tottori domain. It remained the Ikeda seat until Meiji. The keep burned in 1692 and the buildings were demolished around 1879. Visitors today admire vast stone walls, including the rare rounded wall (maki-ishigaki) of the Tenkyū-maru, and the reconstructed Naka-no-gomon gate and Gibōshi bridge. Kyūshō Park at its foot is famous for its cherry trees; the site is freely accessible and is one of the 100 Fine Castles of Japan.