Yuzuki Castle

Architecture, patrimoine et histoire · Préfecture d'Ehime

A stone's throw from the Dōgo baths, one of Japan's oldest hot-spring districts, Yuzuki Castle was for two and a half centuries the seat of the Kōno clan, governors of Iyo Province. Founded around 1335 by Kōno Michimori, when his clan sided with Ashikaga Takauji, it is a medieval castle without a keep or large stone walls: a central hill some thirty metres high, surrounded by two lines of moats backed by earthen ramparts, forming a rounded enclosure about 350 by 300 metres. In 1585, during Toyotomi Hideyoshi's conquest of Shikoku, the troops of Kobayakawa Takakage besieged it; the last lord, Kōno Michinao, surrendered after about a month and the castle was abandoned. Some of its materials are said to have been reused to build Matsuyama Castle. Long occupied by a zoo, the site was excavated from 1988 to 1999, revealing warrior residences and many imported ceramics. Today it forms Dōgo Park, free to enter, with reconstructed samurai houses, an exhibition hall on the earthen ramparts and a small museum. A National Historic Site since 2002, it is listed among Japan's 100 Fine Castles.