Overview

Founding

Sakawa Castle is a mountain fortress built atop Kojo-yama, a hill 200.7 meters in elevation in Sakawa, Takaoka District, Kochi Prefecture. It is said to have been constructed around 1573 (Tensho 1). After Nakamura Echizen-no-kami Nobuyoshi, lord of Matsuo Castle, submitted to Chosokabe Motochika, Motochika's senior retainer Kuwatake Kuranosuke took over as castellan of Matsuo Castle. Disliking the castle's water shortage, he built a new fortress on the hill opposite it—the origin of Sakawa Castle.

Lords of the Castle

After Kuwatake Kuranosuke, the Chosokabe clan was stripped of its domain following the Battle of Sekigahara, and Yamauchi Kazutoyo entered Tosa Province. Kazutoyo's senior retainer, Fukao Izumi-no-kami Shigeyoshi, was granted a stipend of 10,000 koku and became lord of Sakawa Castle. The Fukao clan continued to hold this territory thereafter. Shigeyoshi had earlier served a succession of lords—the Toki clan, Oda Nobutada, Oda Nobutaka, and Mizoguchi Hidekatsu—before being invited into Yamauchi Kazutoyo's service in 1585, when Kazutoyo became lord of a 30,000-koku domain at Nagahama in Omi; Shigeyoshi initially served as a retained guest receiving a 200-man stipend. When Kazutoyo became lord of Kakegawa in Totomi, Shigeyoshi's stipend rose to 3,000 koku, and after the 1600 Battle of Sekigahara, when he accompanied Kazutoyo into Tosa, he was granted the 10,000-koku Sakawa domain and the position of chief senior retainer of the Tosa Domain.

Governance of Sakawa

Shigeyoshi governed the Sakawa domain for roughly 30 years until 1630, when he passed headship to his adopted son, Fukao Shigemasa. During this period he also handled major domain affairs, including the renovation of Edo Castle, the construction of Nagoya Castle, and the Siege of Osaka. After retiring with a stipend of 2,000 koku, he lived in Kochi until his death in 1632.

Structure and Features

The main bailey sat atop the summit of Kojo-yama. The castle grounds were extensive, with baileys arranged along a ridge extending east-west, encircling Seigen-ji Temple at the northern foot of the mountain.

Abandonment and Aftermath

Sakawa Castle was abandoned under the Genna One Castle per Domain Edict, but the Fukao clan established a residence (doi yashiki) at the eastern foot of the mountain and continued to govern the area until the Meiji Restoration. Seigen-ji, the Fukao clan's family temple, holds the graves of successive generations of the clan. As the castle town of the Fukao, who served as chief retainers of the Tosa Domain, Sakawa retains sake breweries and old merchant houses dating from the Edo period, preserving a distinctive townscape to this day.

Present Day

Today, the hillside of the former Sakawa Castle site is maintained as "Makino Park." The park traces its origins to Someiyoshino cherry trees planted through the connection of botanist Dr. Makino Tomitaro, and it is now known as a cherry blossom destination. Visitors can climb from the park to the remains of the main bailey at the summit, tracing part of the castle's original layout.

* Image is for illustrative purposes only.

Castle RuinsShikoku

Sakawa Castle

佐川城

Lord

Fukao Clan

Era

Built c. 1573 (Tensho 1), abandoned under the Genna One Castle per Domain Edict (c. 1615)

Designation

Castle Ruins

Location

Sakawa, Takaoka District, Kochi Prefecture

Access

Approx. 20-minute walk from JR Dosan Line Sakawa Station. Approx. 25 minutes by car from Susaki-Higashi IC on the Kochi Expressway. Parking available at Makino Park.

Sakawa Castle is a historic castle in Shikoku dating from the Built c. 1573 (Tensho 1), abandoned under the Genna One Castle per Domain Edict (c. 1615), whose lord was Fukao Clan.