Kawagoe Castle

Overview

Kawagoe Castle (川越城, Kawagoe-jō) is a flatland castle in the city of Kawagoe, in Saitama Prefecture, north-west of central Tokyo. It was founded in 1457, the first year of the Chōroku era (長禄, ちょうろく), during the Muromachi period (1336–1573). The site is counted among the 関東七名城 (Kantō Shichimeijō, "Seven Famous Castles of the Kantō") and among the 100 Fine Castles of Japan. Its grounds lie in the Kuruwamachi district of Kawagoe and include the Miyoshino Shrine. The castle is also the place that gives its name to the Siege of Kawagoe Castle and served as the headquarters of the Kawagoe Domain.

History

Kawagoe Castle was built in 1457, the opening year of the Chōroku era, in the middle of the Muromachi period. The castle was a flatland stronghold rather than a mountain fortress, sited on the plain of the Kantō region. It became the object of the Siege of Kawagoe Castle, the engagement for which the site is chiefly remembered. In later centuries the castle served as the seat of the Kawagoe Domain, the administrative unit whose headquarters were established there. The site's inclusion among the Seven Famous Castles of the Kantō and among the 100 Fine Castles of Japan reflects its standing in the military geography of the region.

What Stands There Today

The castle's surviving grounds contain the Miyoshino Shrine, a Shinto shrine that forms part of the site. Kawagoe Castle is the closest castle to Tokyo that visitors can actually enter and walk through. Edo Castle, the other great fortification of the region, now lies beneath the Imperial Palace and is largely closed to the public, which leaves Kawagoe as the nearest accessible castle to the capital. The castle grounds sit within the Kuruwamachi district of Kawagoe, a city that preserves a well-known streetscape of traditional merchant buildings.

The Name in Japanese

The Japanese name is written 川越城. It is read かわごえじょう in kana, and romanised as Kawagoe-jō.

The name breaks into three kanji:

• 川 — read かわ (kawa) here. It means "river." This is a simple pictograph of flowing water, three vertical strokes with a long sweep down the left side.
• 越 — read ごえ (goe) here. It means "to cross," "to go beyond," or "to exceed." The reading shifts from the base koe to goe because of a sound change called rendaku (連濁, れんだく), in which the first consonant of a non-initial element becomes voiced when it follows another element in a compound. The same shift turns kawa + koe into Kawagoe.
• 城 — read じょう (jō) here. It means "castle." This kanji is the standard element in Japanese castle names, and it appears in hundreds of them, from 大坂城 (Ōsaka-jō) to 姫路城 (Himeji-jō).

Put together, 川越城 means "the castle of Kawagoe," and Kawagoe itself means something like "river crossing" — a place where a river was forded or crossed. The word 城 is worth fixing in memory, because once a learner recognises it, castle names across Japan become readable at a glance. Note that 城 has another common reading, しろ (shiro), used when the word stands alone rather than in a compound name.

Visiting and Context

Kawagoe lies in Saitama Prefecture, and the castle site is in the Kuruwamachi district of the city. Because Edo Castle is now the Imperial Palace and is largely inaccessible, Kawagoe Castle is the closest castle to Tokyo that can be visited. The grounds include the Miyoshino Shrine, and the surrounding city of Kawagoe is known for its historic merchant quarter. For learners of Japanese, the name is a compact lesson in three useful kanji — 川 for river, 越 for crossing, and 城 for castle — and in rendaku, the sound change that links the first two into a single word. The castle's associations run from the Muromachi period through the Siege of Kawagoe Castle to its later role as the headquarters of the Kawagoe Domain, and it is listed both among the 関東七名城 and among the 100 Fine Castles of Japan.