Tonokōri Castle

Architecture, patrimoine et histoire · Préfecture de Miyazaki

On a plateau about one hundred metres high south of the city of Saito, Tonokōri Castle overlooks the centre of the former province of Hyūga. Founded around 1335-1337 by Itō Sukemochi, it was for more than two centuries the main stronghold of the Itō clan, originally from Izu, who made it the heart of a network of fortresses covering most of the province. The Sanzai River, which washes its western and northern flanks, served as a natural moat and earned it the nickname of "floating boat castle". The core of the site consists of five enclosures, including the honmaru, ni-no-maru and san-no-maru, separated by earthen ramparts and deep dry moats and surrounded by numerous terraces and satellite forts. After the Itō were defeated by the Shimazu and Itō Yoshisuke fled in 1577, the stronghold passed to the Shimazu, served as a base during Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Kyūshū campaign and was abandoned around 1615. Designated a National Historic Site in 2000, the plateau preserves remarkable earthworks; a statue commemorates Itō Mancio, a member of the Tenshō embassy to Europe, who was born at the castle.