User:Fieari/Draft:Okayama Castle

Okayama Castle (岡山城) is a Japanese castle in the city of Okayama in Okayama Prefecture in Japan. The main tower was completed in 1597, destroyed in 1945 and replicated in concrete in 1966. Two of the watch towers survived the bombing of 1945 and are now listed by the national Agency for Cultural Affairs as Important Cultural Properties.

In stark contrast to the white "Egret Castle" of neighboring Himeji, Okayama Castle has a black exterior, earning it the nickname Crow Castle (烏城) or "castle of the black bird". (The black castle of Matsumoto in Nagano is also known as "Crow Castle", but it is karasu-jō in Japanese.)

Today, only a few parts of Okayama Castle's roof (including the fish-shaped-gargoyles) are gilded, but prior to the Battle of Sekigahara the main keep also featured gilded roof tiles, earning it the nickname Golden Crow Castle (金烏城).

Nanboku-chō Period - Azuchi-Momoyama Period
During the Nanboku-chō period (1336–1392), a castle was built on Ishiyama Hill in Okayama by Nawa Nagatoshi, a member of the Nawa clan. For about 150 years, the castle's ownership is unclear. The area was part of the Settsu family estate and thrived as a port town at the mouth of the Asahi River. In the Sengoku period (1521–1528), the Konko clan resided in the castle, serving the Matsuda clan of Kanagawa Castle.

In 1570, Ukita Naoie assassinated Konko Munetaka and took control of the castle. Naoie was a vassal of the Uragami clan, who controlled the western part of Bizen. In 1573, Naoie moved from Kameyama Castle to Ishiyama Castle and rebuilt it, forming a castle town. The castle's layout at that time was likely a linear arrangement from east to west. Naoie redirected the Sanyōdō highway to pass through the castle town, attracting merchants from Bizen Fukuoka, Saidaiji, and others, stimulating economic development.

Naoie's son, Ukita Hideie, continued to expand the castle, transforming it into a modern fortress. The castle was further developed between 1590 and 1597, with extensive stone walls and a grand main keep with golden roof tiles. Hideie incorporated the Asahi River as a natural moat, although this caused frequent flooding in the castle town, leading to the construction of the Hyakken River drainage channel.

The castle became known as Okayama Castle, named after the hill it was built on, and the town as Okayama.

Edo Period
After becoming the main force of the Western army in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, Hideie was exiled to Hachijō Island, and the Ukita clan was dismissed from their position.

Replacing them, Kobayakawa Hideaki took control of the castle as the lord of Bizen and Mimasaka provinces. Hideaki expanded the width of the main compound's middle tier, dug a moat over 15 town blocks long around the outside of the third compound, and enhanced the outer curve of the third compound to expand the castle town. The moat construction, which was completed in 20 days using both peasants and samurai, is referred to as the "Twenty-Day Moat" (hatsukabori). In 1601, what was known as the Numajiro castle tower (沼城天守, Numajiro tenshu) was relocated to the southern corner of the middle tier, which came to be known as the Ōdonatou tower ("Large Storage Tower"), the largest tower in Okayama Castle, consisting of a three-story four-floor structure with a large gabled roof topped by a watchtower. Two years later, on October 7, 1602, Hideaki died suddenly in Okayama, leaving no heirs, leading to the extinction of the Kobayakawa family.

In 1603, the domain of Bizen was given to Ikeda Tadatsugu, the second son of Ikeda Terumasa, lord of Himeji Castle in Harima, but since he was only five years old, his elder brother Toshitaka governed as the "Bizen Supervisor." Toshitaka is said to have developed the west end's west compound at "Ishiyama", and the Western Tower of the west compound was built during this time. Tadatsugu entered Okayama Castle in 1613, but died in 1615, an event now known as the "poisoned manjū incident".

In 1615, Tadatsugu's younger brother, Ikeda Tadao, was transferred from Awaji and further developed the castle, completing most of the layout seen today. During the Kan'ei era (1624-1644), the Ikeda clan built the Moon-Viewing Turret and other structures, further incorporating modern defensive features.

Meiji through Shōwa Periods
In 1869, with the abolition of the han system, Okayama Castle's role as a provincial capital ended. During the Meiji period, the castle became the property of the Meiji government's Ministry of War, who viewed samurai-era castles as archaic and unnecessary. Consequently, like many other castles throughout Japan, most of the castle buildings, turrets, and gates were dismantled, and most of the moats were filled in, leaving only the main keep, Moon-Viewing Turret, Western Turret, and Kōraku-en Garden. The old castle walls gradually disappeared underneath the expanding city.

On June 29, 1945, allied bombers heavily damaged the castle, burning the main keep and an adjacent gate to the ground, leaving only two turrets and some stone walls near the main keep.

In 1966, the keep was rebuilt in concrete. The castle site was designated a National Historic Site and Important Cultural Properties of Japan in 1987.

Heisei and Reiwa Periods
In 1996, golden shachihoko (dragon-carp gargoyles) were added to the reconstructed keep to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the castle. Recent excavations have uncovered remains of turrets and stone steps not documented in historical records. The castle underwent major renovations from 2021 to 2022 for earthquake resistance.

Construction and Layout
Okayama Castle was built on a series of low hills. At the time of construction, the mouth of the Asahi River branched into several distributaries. In the vast delta area known as Ōzuhara, the central hill was called "Okayama" (also known as Shiba Okayama), with another hill called Ishiyama to its west and another hill called Tenjinyama or Tenmanzan to its northwest. These hills were used as fortifications throughout different periods. Ukita Naoie entered and rebuilt Ishiyama Castle, and his son Ukita Hideie later established the main keep on Okayama, incorporating Ishiyama Castle into the larger structure, thus forming Okayama Castle.

The layout of the castle follows a ladder-style arrangement, with the three-tiered configuration extending westward. This design structure has the north and east sides of the main keep left relatively undefended, so the course of the Asahi River was altered to serve as a natural moat on the east side. Additionally, Kōraku-en Garden was constructed as a substitute for a defensive enclosure.

The main keep was a composite tower with four layers and six stories, with distinctive black lacquered wooden siding giving it the nickname of "Crow Castle". Its entrance was set in the adjoining salt warehouse. Maps from the Genroku period show the castle surrounded by five moats and a castle town extending 3.5 km north to south and 1.3 km east to west.

The castle site is now maintained as "U-jō Park", with public buildings such as the RSK Sanyo Broadcasting station, Hayashibara Museum of Art, and the Okayama Civic Hall occupying the former second and third baileys. The reconstructed main keep is a concrete building complete with air-conditioning, elevators and numerous displays documenting the castle's history (with a heavy focus on the Ikeda era.)