[Castle name]
Numata Castle
After the Numata family extinct, Sanada Masayuki and Nobuyuki used it as their home base.
[Description]
Numata Castle was a castle on a hill in current Numata City, Gunma Prefecture.
It was built by Numata Akiyasu in A.D.1532.
In the Warring States period, the Numata family had a internal strife on whether lord should they follow, Uesugi Kenshin and Hojo Ujimasa. While the conflict, Uesugi Kenshin usurped the castle and Numata came to be ruled by a Kenshin’s man.
After Kenshin died, the Uesugi family had an internal conflict on who would succeed Kenshin. While the conflict, the Hojo family usurped the castle and sent Inomata Kuninori to rule it. In 1578, Uesugi Kagekatsu, who succeeded Kenshin, and Takeda Katsuyori made Koetsu Alliance. Kagekatsu allowed the Takeda family to attack Numata castle.
Sanada Masayuki, the father of Yukimura, was in charge of it. He was so clever that he made Numata Castle surrender without any death. In the same year, Numata Kageyoshi, the son of Numata Akiyasu, attacked Numata Castle to take it back, but he was killed and the Numata family got extinct.
In the 10th year of the Tensho period (A.D.1582), Oda Nobunaga attacked Kosyu and Takeda Katsuyori committed suicide. The Takeda family got extinct. Kozuke Province and part of Shinano got ruled by Takigawa . However, in the same year, Nobunaga was killed by his man Akechi Mitsuhide in the Honnoji Incident. Kozuke Province fell into a mess again and the Hojo family got Numata Castle.
During the time, Sanada Masayuki decided to follow the Hojo family. Kosyu and Shinano, where the Takeda family no longer exists, got ruled by Tokugawa Ieyasu. The Hojo family got Kozuke Province. However, Sanada Yukimura’s territory span both on Shinano and Kozuke Province. Ieyasu tried to persuade him to hand over Numata Castle, but he refused.
Then, Tokugawa Ieyasu attacked Ueda Castle twice, but Masayuki repelled both of the attacks. After that, he joined Uesugi Kagekatsu. During the time, Toyotomi Hideyoshi got all Japan.
Masayuki regarded the state of society and left Numata Castle in Hideyoshi’ hand. After all, Numata Castle got ruled by the Hojo family and the Sanada family was given a new estate. At Numata Castle, Inomata Kuninori, a man of the Hojo family, became the head. It looked that the conflict was over, but Kuninori suddenly attacked the new Sanada estate and usurped it.
It caused Hojo Conquest by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. After the Hojo family got extinct, the Sanada family got Ueda Castle and Numata Castle with 95000 kokus estate. After the Battle of Sekigahara, Tokugawa Ieyasu got all Japan. Sanada Nobuyuki succeeded the Sanada family and moved to Matsushiro Castle with 130000 kokus estate.
Numata area was still ruled by the Sanada family as a 30000 kokus detached territory. In 1681, the Sanada family wasn’t able to conduct a job for shogunate and was deprived of their feudal estate and status. After that, Numata Castle was ruled by the Honda family, the Kuroda family, and the Toki family until the Meiji Restoration.
Now, the ruin is used as Numata Park.
[Address,access]
1197-20 Oda, Tsukuba City, Ibaraki Prefecture 300-4223
[Map]
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