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42-449: Kumamoto Castle's history dates to 1467, when fortifications were established by Ideta Hidenobu. In 1496, these fortifications were expanded by Kanokogi Chikakazu. In 1588, Katō Kiyomasa was transferred to the early incarnation of Kumamoto Castle. From 1601 to 1607, Kiyomasa greatly expanded the castle, transforming it into a castle complex with 49 turrets , 18 turret gates, and 29 smaller gates. The smaller castle tower, built sometime after

84-552: A conspiracy to kill Ishida Mitsunari. It was said that the reason of this conspiracy was dissatisfaction of those generals towards Mitsunari as he wrote bad assessments and underreported the achievements of those generals during the Imjin war against Korea & Chinese empire. At first, these generals gathered at Kiyomasa's mansion in Osaka Castle , and from there they moved into Mitsunari's mansion. However, Mitsunari learned of this through

126-626: A formidable warrior were it not for two factors that decided Kiyomasa, otherwise a Toyotomi loyalist. First, the Western forces were led by Ishida Mitsunari, whom Katô loathed as a civilian interloper and had quarreled with during the Korean campaign; and second, the Western forces included Konishi Yukinaga . Although Konishi's navy had aided Kiyomasa quite a bit at the Siege of Ulsan, the two men despised each other as much as ever. Katô joined with Tokugawa and during

168-688: A mediator for the increasingly complicated relationship between Ieyasu and Toyotomi Hideyori . In 1611, en route by sea to Kumamoto after one such meeting, he fell ill, and died shortly after his arrival. He was buried at Honmyō-ji temple in Kumamoto, but also has graves in Yamagata Prefecture and Tokyo . Kiyomasa is also enshrined in many Shinto shrines in Japan , including Katō Shrine in Kumamoto. His son, Katō Tadahiro, succeeded him as Higo no kami 肥後守 (provincial governor of Higo), but his fief (Kumamoto)

210-499: A new class, the sengoku-daimyō , who arose from the ranks of the shugodai and jizamurai . Among the sengoku daimyō ( 戦国大名 ) were many who had been shugo-daimyō , such as the Satake , Imagawa , Takeda , Toki , Rokkaku , Ōuchi , and Shimazu . New to the ranks of the daimyo were the Asakura , Amago , Nagao , Miyoshi , Chōsokabe , Hatano, and Oda . These came from the ranks of

252-633: A noted Japanese garden located in its grounds. In 2006, Kumamoto Castle was listed as one of the 100 Fine Castles of Japan by the Japan Castle Foundation. On December 7, 2007, a large-scale renovation of the Inner Palace was completed. A public ceremony for the restoration was held on April 20, 2008. The castle sustained damage in a magnitude 6.2 earthquake that struck at 9:26 pm on 14 April 2016, in Mashiki town in Kumamoto prefecture. This event

294-466: A practice called sankin-kōtai . In 1869, the year after the Meiji Restoration, the daimyo, together with the kuge, formed a new aristocracy, the kazoku . In 1871, the han were abolished , and prefectures were established. In this year, around 200 daimyo returned their titles to the emperor, who consolidated their han into 75 prefectures. Their military forces were also demobilized, with

336-506: A report from a servant of Toyotomi Hideyori named Jiemon Kuwajima, and fled to Satake Yoshinobu 's mansion together with Shima Sakon and others to hide. When the seven generals found out that Mitsunari was not in the mansion, they searched the mansions of various feudal lords in Osaka Castle, and Kato's army also approached the Satake residence. Therefore, Mitsunari and his party escaped from

378-433: Is substantially similar to the magnitude-6.3 1889 Kumamoto earthquake which also damaged the castle. A stone wall at the foot of the keep partially collapsed in the 2016 quake, and several of the castle's shachihoko ornaments fell from the roof of the keep and broke apart. It sustained further extensive damage the next day on 15 April following a 7.3 magnitude earthquake where some portions were completely destroyed. While

420-620: The Battle of Komaki and Nagakute against the Tokugawa clan . When Hideyoshi became the kampaku in the summer of 1585, Kiyomasa received the court title of Kazue no Kami (主計頭, head of the accounting bureau) and junior 5th court rank, lower grade ( ju go-i no ge 従五位下). In 1587, he fought in the Kyūshū campaign against the Shimazu clan . Later, after Higo Province was confiscated from Sassa Narimasa , he

462-516: The Meiji Restoration , with the adoption of the prefecture system in 1871. The shugo daimyō ( 守護大名 ) were the first group of men to hold the title daimyō . They arose from among the shugo during the Muromachi period (approximately 1336–1573). The shugo-daimyo held not only military and police powers, but also economic power within a province . They accumulated these powers throughout

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504-779: The Mori of Chōshū , the Shimazu of Satsuma , the Date of Sendai , the Uesugi of Yonezawa , and the Hachisuka of Awa . Initially, the Tokugawa regarded them as potentially rebellious, but for most of the Edo period, control policies such as sankin-kōtai , resulted in peaceful relations. Daimyo were required to maintain residences in Edo as well as their fiefs, and to move periodically between Edo and their fiefs, typically spending alternate years in each place, in

546-744: The Sengoku period to the daimyo of the Edo period , the rank had a long and varied history. The backgrounds of daimyo also varied considerably; while some daimyo clans, notably the Mōri , Shimazu and Hosokawa , were cadet branches of the Imperial family or were descended from the kuge , other daimyo were promoted from the ranks of the samurai , notably during the Edo period. Daimyo often hired samurai to guard their land, and paid them in land or food, as relatively few could afford to pay them in money. The daimyo era ended soon after

588-646: The shugodai and their deputies. Additional sengoku-daimyō such as the Mōri , Tamura , and Ryūzōji arose from the jizamurai . The lower officials of the shogunate and rōnin ( Late Hōjō , Saitō ), provincial officials (Kitabatake), and kuge (Tosa Ichijō) also gave rise to sengoku-daimyo . The Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 marked the beginning of the Edo period . Shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu reorganized roughly 200 daimyo and their territories into han , which were assessed by rice production. Those heading han assessed at 10,000 koku (50,000 bushels) or more were considered daimyo. Ieyasu also categorized

630-413: The 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominally to the emperor and the kuge (an aristocratic class). In the term, dai ( 大 ) means 'large', and myō stands for myōden ( 名田 ) , meaning 'private land'. From the shugo of the Muromachi period through

672-544: The 17th-century structures were rebuilt. The signature curved stone walls, known as musha-gaeshi , as well as wooden overhangs, were designed to prevent attackers from penetrating the castle. Rock falls were also used as deterrents. In nearby San-no-Maru Park is the Hosokawa Gyobu-tei , the former residence of the Hosokawa clan , the daimyō of Higo Province during the Edo period . This traditional wooden mansion has

714-508: The Edo shogunate, some rising to the position of rōjū . The fact that fudai daimyo could hold government positions, while tozama in general could not, was a main difference between the two. Tozama daimyō held mostly large fiefs far away from the capital, with e.g. the Kaga han of Ishikawa Prefecture , headed by the Maeda clan , assessed at 1,000,000 koku . Other famous tozama clans included

756-472: The Imjin war he built several strategic Japanese-style castles in the territories he conquered. Ulsan castle was one of such fortresses and the site of Kiyomasa's most famous battle — the Siege of Ulsan on December 22, 1597. Kiyomasa led the defense of the castle, successfully holding at bay Chinese general Yang Hao 's army, which numbered 60,000. He defended the castle until November 23, 1598. However, his bravery

798-464: The Satake residence and barricaded themselves at Fushimi Castle . The next day, the seven generals surrounded Fushimi Castle with their soldiers as they knew Mitsunari was hiding there. Tokugawa Ieyasu , who was in charge of political affairs in Fushimi Castle trying to arbitrate the situation. The seven generals requested Ieyasu to hand over Mitsunari, which refused by Ieyasu. Ieyasu then negotiated

840-508: The Sekigahara campaign (August–October 1600) fought Ishida's allies on Kyushu and took a number of Konishi's castles. He was preparing to invade the Shimazu domain when the campaign ended and Ieyasu ordered him to stand down. For his service, Katô was awarded the other half of Higo (formerly owned by Konishi, who was executed in the wake of Sekigahara), bringing his income to nearly 500,000 koku. In his later years, Kiyomasa tried to work as

882-458: The castle was constructed, such roof tiles were used so that in the event of an earthquake, the tiles would fall off the damaged roof, preventing it from being weighted down and collapsing into the building's interior. Efforts to repair the castle began June 8, 2016. On April 7, 2018, the newly made shachihoko ornament had been installed on the top roof of the large tenshu tower with the second one being installed on April 12. The restoration of

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924-504: The castle was demonstrated by its ability to withstand 19th-century weapons without falling. Saigō Takamori famously remarked, "I did not lose to the Meiji government. I lost to Lord Kiyomasa." 13 of the buildings in the castle complex were undamaged, and have been designated Important Cultural Properties. In 1960, the castle keep was reconstructed using concrete. From 1998 to 2008, the castle complex underwent restoration work, during which most of

966-693: The conflict of Sekigahara between the Eastern army led by Tokugawa Ieyasu and the Western army led by Ishida Mitsunari. Muramatsu Shunkichi, writer of " The Surprising Colors and Desires of the Heroes of Japanese History and violent womens ”, gave his assessment that the reason of Mitsunari failure in his war against Ieyasu was due to his unpopularity among the major political figures of that time. Later, Kiyomasa started approaching Tokugawa Ieyasu . both Tokugawa Ieyasu and Ishida Mitsunari courted his support. Ishida's so-called Western forces might well have gotten themselves

1008-532: The daimyo according to their relation to the ruling Tokugawa family: the shinpan were related to the Tokugawa; the fudai had been vassals of the Tokugawa or allies in battle; and the tozama had not allied with the Tokugawa before the Battle of Sekigahara (did not necessarily fight against the Tokugawa). The shinpan were collaterals of Ieyasu, such as the Matsudaira , or descendants of Ieyasu other than in

1050-765: The daimyo and their samurai followers pensioned into retirement. The move to abolish the feudal domains effectively ended the daimyo era in Japan. This was effectively carried out through the financial collapse of the feudal-domain governments, hampering their capability for resistance. In the wake of the changes, many daimyo remained in control of their lands, being appointed as prefectural governors ; however, they were soon relieved of this duty and called en masse to Tokyo, thereby cutting off any independent base of power from which to potentially rebel. Despite this, members of former daimyo families remained prominent in government and society, and in some cases continue to remain prominent to

1092-699: The first decades of the Muromachi period. Major shugo-daimyō came from the Shiba , Hatakeyama , and Hosokawa clans , as well as the tozama clans of Yamana , Ōuchi , Takeda and Akamatsu . The greatest ruled multiple provinces. The Ashikaga shogunate required the shugo-daimyō to reside in Kyoto , so they appointed relatives or retainers, called shugodai , to represent them in their home provinces. Eventually, some of these in turn came to reside in Kyoto, appointing deputies in

1134-430: The keep itself withstood most of the earthquake with little structural damage, two of the castle's turrets were severely damaged and partially collapsed, more of the exterior walls at the foot of the keep also collapsed, and large amounts of kawara roof tiles on the keep's roof were also disrupted and fell from the roof as a result of the quake. The fallen roof tiles are actually deliberately designed to have done so – when

1176-563: The keep, had several facilities including a well and kitchen. In 1610, the Honmaru Goten Palace was completed. The castle complex measures roughly 1.6 kilometres (0.99 mi) from east to west, and 1.2 kilometres (0.75 mi) from north to south. The castle keep is 30.3 metres (99 ft) tall. The castle was besieged in 1877 during the Satsuma Rebellion , and the castle keep and other parts were burned down. The strength of

1218-539: The main line of succession. Several shinpan , including the Tokugawa of Owari ( Nagoya ), Kii ( Wakayama ), and Mito , as well as the Matsudaira of Fukui and Aizu , held large han . A few fudai daimyō , such as the Ii of Hikone , held large han, but many were small. The shogunate placed many fudai at strategic locations to guard the trade routes and the approaches to Edo . Also, many fudai daimyo took positions in

1260-803: The main tower was completed in 2019. The restoration of the Nagabei Wall was completed in January, 2021. The repair and restoration of the entire castle were scheduled for completion by 2037. However, in November 2022, Kumamoto Mayor Onishi Kazufumi  [ jp ] announced that the reconstruction would take 15 years longer to complete, with full restoration scheduled for 2052. Old photographs Present exterior 32°48′22″N 130°42′21″E  /  32.806063°N 130.705972°E  / 32.806063; 130.705972 Kat%C5%8D Kiyomasa Katō Kiyomasa ( 加藤 清正 , July 25, 1562 – August 2, 1611)

1302-571: The promised to let Mitsunari retire and to review the assessment of the Battle of Ulsan Castle in Korea which became the major source of this incident, and had his second son, Yūki Hideyasu , to escort Mitsunari to Sawayama Castle. However, historian Watanabe Daimon stated from the primary and secondary sources text about the accident this was more of legal conflict between those generals with Mitsunari, rather than conspiracy to murder him. The role of Ieyasu here

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1344-606: The provinces. The Ōnin War was a major uprising in which shugo-daimyō fought each other. During this and other wars of the time, kuni ikki , or provincial uprisings, took place as locally powerful warriors sought independence from the shugo-daimyo . The deputies of the shugo-daimyō , living in the provinces, seized the opportunity to strengthen their position. At the end of the fifteenth century, those shugo-daimyō who succeeded remained in power. Those who had failed to exert control over their deputies fell from power and were replaced by

1386-427: The single-mindedness and Spartan attitudes of the man, [they] demonstrate emphatically that the warrior's first duty in the early 17th century was simply to 'grasp the sword and die'. Kiyomasa married a daughter of Mizuno Tadashige , Shōjō-in, who was adopted by Tokugawa Ieyasu prior to their marriage. Their daughter, Yōrin-in, would go on to marry Tokugawa Ieyasu 's 10th son, Tokugawa Yorinobu . In 1910, Kiyomasa

1428-417: The war, he apparently hunted tigers for sport, using a yari ( spear ), and later presented the pelts to Hideyoshi. Some versions of the story say he was in fact hunting tigers to catch them alive, in order to bring their meat to Hideyoshi, as he thought it would improve his lord's health, but later, the tigers were killed because of the lack of food for his men. Kiyomasa was a renowned castle-builder. During

1470-423: Was a Christian, Kiyomasa being noted for brutally suppressing and persecuting Christianity . At the battle of Hondo, he ordered his men to cut open the bellies of all pregnant Christian women and cut off their infants' heads. William Scott Wilson describes Katō Kiyomasa thus: "He was a military man first and last, outlawing even the recitation of poetry, putting the martial arts above all else. His precepts show

1512-564: Was a Japanese daimyō of the Azuchi–Momoyama and Edo periods . His court title was Higo-no-kami . His name as a child was Yashamaru , and first name was Toranosuke . He was one of Hideyoshi 's Seven Spears of Shizugatake . Kiyomasa was born in what is now Nakamura-ku, Nagoya (situated in contemporary Aichi District , Owari Province ) to Katō Kiyotada. Kiyotada's wife, Ito, was a cousin of Toyotomi Hideyoshi 's mother. Kiyotada died while his son, Kiyomasa (then known as Toranosuke),

1554-435: Was confiscated, and he was exiled (kaieki; attaindered) in 1632 by Tokugawa Iemitsu on suspicion of conspiring against him, possibly with the likes of Tokugawa Tadanaga , who was ordered to commit seppuku in 1633. A devoted believer of Nichiren Buddhism , Kiyomasa encouraged the building of Nichiren temples across his domains. He came into conflict with Konishi Yukinaga , who ruled the other half of Higo province, and

1596-855: Was granted 250,000 koku of land in Higo (roughly half of the province), and given Kumamoto Castle as his provincial residence. Kiyomasa was one of the three senior commanders during the Seven-Year (Imjin) War (1592–1598) against the Korean Joseon . Together with Konishi Yukinaga , he captured Seoul , Busan and many other cities. He defeated the last of the Korean regulars at the Battle of Imjin River and pacified Hamgyong . The Korean king Seonjo abandoned Seoul before Kiyomasa's forces. Kiyomasa held two Korean princes who had deserted as hostages and used them to force lower-ranking Korean officials to surrender. During

1638-570: Was not reported to Hideyoshi by his rival and superior Ishida Mitsunari . Hideyoshi recalled him to Kyōto . As did a number of other daimyōs who participated in the invasion of Korea , he took a group of captive Korean potters back to his fief in Kyūshū . According to popular theory In 1598 after the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the government of Japan have an accident when seven military generals consisted of Fukushima Masanori , Katō Kiyomasa , Ikeda Terumasa , Hosokawa Tadaoki , Asano Yoshinaga , Katō Yoshiaki , and Kuroda Nagamasa planned

1680-515: Was not to physically protect Mitsunari from any physical harm from them, but to mediate the complaints of those generals. Nevertheless, historians viewed this incident not just as simply personal problems between those seven generals and Mitsunari, but rather as an extension of the political rivalries of greater scope between the Tokugawa faction and the anti-Tokugawa faction led by Mitsunari. Since this incident, those military figures who were on bad terms with Mitsunari would later support Ieyasu during

1722-819: Was posthumously promoted to junior 3rd court rank ( jusanmi 従三位). Katō Kiyomasa is a character in the Koei video games Kessen , Kessen III , Samurai Warriors 3 , Samurai Warriors 4 , Mōri Motonari: Chikai no Sanshi and Age of Empires III . He is a playable character in Pokémon Conquest ( Pokémon + Nobunaga's Ambition in Japan), with his partner Pokémon being Fraxure and Haxorus . [REDACTED] Media related to Katō Kiyomasa at Wikimedia Commons Daimy%C5%8D Daimyo ( 大名 , daimyō , Japanese pronunciation: [daimʲoː] ) were powerful Japanese magnates , feudal lords who, from

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1764-545: Was still young. Soon after, Toranosuke entered into Hideyoshi's service, and in 1576, at age 15, was granted a stipend of 170 koku . In 1582, he fought in Hideyoshi's army at the Battle of Yamazaki , and later in 1583 at the Battle of Shizugatake . Owing to his achievement in that battle, he became known as one of the Seven Spears of Shizugatake and was rewarded with 3,000 additional koku . In 1584, Kiyomasa took part in

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