Uwajima Castle

Overview

Uwajima Castle (宇和島城, Uwajima-jō) is a Japanese castle in the city of Uwajima, in Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. It is classified as a hirayama-jiro (平山城, hirayama-jō), a "flat-hill castle" — a type built on a low hill rising from flat ground, rather than on a mountain peak or on the plain itself. The castle also carries an alternate name, Tsurushima-jō (釣島城, Tsurushima-jō). It is counted among the twelve Japanese castles that still preserve their historical tenshu (天守, tenshu), the main keep tower. Since 1937 it has been protected as a National Historic Site, and it is listed as part of the 100 Fine Castles of Japan.

History

Construction of Uwajima Castle began in 1601, in the sixth year of the Keichō era (慶長, Keichō). The Keichō era falls within the Azuchi–Momoyama period, the span from 1573 to 1603 that saw the unification of Japan under a succession of military rulers and the building of a great number of castles. Uwajima Castle belongs to the final years of that period, on the eve of the Tokugawa shogunate.

The castle is closely associated with the Date clan. Date Munenobu is recorded as having been born at Uwajima Castle, tying the site to the family that governed the domain from it. The castle stood at the centre of the surrounding castle town, which grew into the present city of Uwajima.

What Stands There Today

The defining feature of Uwajima Castle today is its surviving tenshu, the main keep. Uwajima is one of only twelve castles in Japan that still have their historical keep rather than a modern reconstruction, which places it in a small and closely watched group among Japanese castles. The keep stands on its hill above the city, and the castle grounds are preserved as a National Historic Site, a designation they have held since 1937. The site is also included in the 100 Fine Castles of Japan, a list that groups castles of particular historical and cultural importance.

The Name in Japanese

The castle's name in Japanese is 宇和島城.

• Kana reading: うわじまじょう
• Romaji: Uwajima-jō

Broken down character by character:

• 宇 — read u in this name. It is a kanji with a general sense of "eaves," "roof," or "heaven," and it appears in many place names. Here it carries no independent meaning beyond its sound within the place name.
• 和 — read wa in this name. Its core meanings are "harmony," "peace," and "Japanese." As with 宇, in this word it functions mainly as a sound element of the place name Uwajima.
• 島 — read jima in this name (the base reading is shima, "island"; it voices to jima in compounds). It means "island." The place name Uwajima therefore ends in the word for island, a common pattern in Japanese coastal and island place names.
• 城 — read jō in this name. It means "castle." This is the standard kanji used for castle names across Japan, and it is the element that tells the reader the word is the name of a castle rather than of a town or a person.

So the full name combines the place name 宇和島 (Uwajima) with 城 (jō, "castle") — literally "Uwajima Castle." The reading of the final character shifts to jō in this compound; on its own the same character can be read shiro, the native Japanese word for a castle.

The alternate name, Tsurushima-jō (釣島城), uses 釣 (tsuri, "to fish" or "to angle") with the same 島 (shima, "island") and 城 (jō, "castle").

Visiting and Context

Uwajima Castle sits at coordinates roughly 33.22° north, 132.57° east, on its hill within the city of Uwajima in Ehime Prefecture, on Shikoku. The castle is part of the 100 Fine Castles of Japan, a selection that draws visitors interested in the surviving structures of Japan's castle-building age.

For readers studying Japanese, Uwajima Castle offers a compact lesson in how castle names are built. The pattern is place name plus 城, and the reading of 城 depends on the compound: jō in names such as Uwajima-jō, but shiro when the word stands alone. Recognising 城 on a map or a sign immediately identifies a castle site, and recognising the 島 ("island") ending of 宇和島 connects the name to the geography of the region. The castle's place in the Azuchi–Momoyama period, its 1601 start date under the Keichō era, and its rare surviving keep together make it a useful reference point for the era in which Japan's most famous castles were built.