和歌山城

The Kishū Tokugawa Stronghold: Gateway of the Southern Sea Road

Wakayama Castle traces its origins to 1585 (Tenshō 13), when Toyotomi Hideyoshi's brother Hashiba Hidenaga built a fortress atop Torafusu-yama ("Tiger-Crouching Mountain") following the Kishū Campaign. After extensive development under Asano Yoshinaga, the castle passed in 1619 to Tokugawa Yorinobu — the tenth son of Tokugawa Ieyasu — who arrived as lord of a 555,000-koku domain. From that point until the Meiji Restoration, Wakayama Castle served as the seat of the Kishū Tokugawa family, one of the Three Gosanke (the three most senior Tokugawa cadet houses, alongside Owari and Mito).

The Kishū Tokugawa family was of the highest rank, eligible to supply shōguns to the main Tokugawa line. Indeed, the eighth shōgun Yoshimune and the fourteenth shōgun Iemochi both came from Kishū. Yoshimune in particular is remembered as a reforming shōgun whose Kyōhō Reforms revitalized the Edo shogunate. Even after Yoshimune moved to Edo, Wakayama Castle continued to embody Tokugawa authority as the domain's seat, its keep visible from the Kinokawa estuary and the Southern Sea.

The Keep's History: Repeated Reconstruction

Wakayama Castle's main keep has undergone several transformations. The Asano-era five-story keep was rebuilt under Tokugawa Yorinobu, and the current compound-style layout (daiten, shōten, and a connecting rōmon gate) was established in the early Edo period. A lightning fire in 1698 destroyed the keep, which was rebuilt the following year; that Edo-period structure survived until air raids destroyed it in 1945. The present ferro-concrete reconstruction (1958) faithfully recreates the compound-style plan — its silhouette rising above the verdant Torafusu-yama visible from throughout the city.

Famous Stone Walls: Multiple Construction Eras

The castle's stone walls are a highlight for castle enthusiasts, displaying techniques from multiple periods. The oldest layers show Toyotomi-era nozurazumi (rough-field) construction; Edo-period walls feature the more refined uchikomi-hagi and kirikomi-hagi techniques. The masonry near the Gokuraku-bashi bridge is particularly fine, showing Edo-era stonework at its best. The warm reddish-brown Izumi sandstone gives Wakayama's walls a color found nowhere else — softened by moss and seasonal wildflowers growing between the stones.

The Gosanke Sword Culture: Kishū Tokugawa and Famous Blades

As one of the Three Gosanke, the Kishū Tokugawa family maintained a sword collection worthy of their near-shōgunal status. The first lord Yorinobu was known as a skilled sword connoisseur who accumulated many famous blades during his time in the castle, inheriting several from his father Ieyasu's collection. The collection was passed down through successive generations.

Of particular note is the connection to the eighth shōgun Yoshimune's sword policies. Yoshimune ordered the compilation of the Kinpō Meibutsuchō (Famous Sword Catalogue) during the Kyōhō era (1716–1736), cataloguing all the realm's celebrated swords; the Kishū Tokugawa collection served as an important reference. Among the Kishū-associated swords recorded in the catalogue are works collected and preserved across the reigns of Yorinobu, Mitsusada, and Yoshimune.

Kishū also had its own swordsmithing tradition. Notable smiths of Kii province include Kii Sadamune and Nanki Shigekuni, the latter serving Ieyasu and Hidetada as an officially sanctioned shogunal smith in the early Edo period. Shigekuni's swords — known for their powerful Sōshū-den-influenced style — survive in numbers including Important Cultural Properties. Wakayama Castle is in a sense the spiritual home of these Kishū blades.

Tourism and Nature: Castle and Park in Harmony

Wakayama Castle and its extensive park are beloved by residents as a place of relaxation. In spring, approximately 600 cherry trees bloom, creating one of the city's most celebrated seasonal landscapes. The castle keep is open as a museum with exhibits on Kishū Tokugawa history and culture. The panoramic view from the keep — over Wakayama city, the Kinokawa River, and on clear days the Kii Peninsula mountains and Pacific Ocean — allows visitors to experience the strategic vantage that made this "gateway of the Southern Sea Road" so prized.