Sumoto Castle is located on the southeast coast of
Awaji Island on a long and narrow ridge of the 130-meter Mount Mikuma. Awaji Island has been a strategic transportation hub for the
Kinai region since ancient times, forming part of the route between
Honshu and
Shikoku and controlling maritime transportation between the
Pacific Ocean and the
Seto Inland Sea and
Osaka Bay. In the
Sengoku period, the island was controlled by the
Miyoshi clan, who ruled
Sanuki,
Awa and
Kawachi Provinces. Sumoto Castle was constructed by their retainer, the Atagi clan, around 1526. The island was seized by
Hashiba Hideyoshi in 1581 as part of
Oda Nobunaga's conquest of western Japan, and assigned his general
Sengoku Hidehisa to govern Sumoto. In 1583, Sengoku Hidehisa was officially named
daimyō and he modernized the Sumoto fortifications, and used the castle as his residence. However, Hidehisa was defeated and disgraced in 1586 in a battle with the
Shimazu clan in 1585 and was replaced a Sumoto by
Wakizaka Yasuharu. With the support of Hideyoshi, Wakizaka Yasuharu expanded the castle to protect the seaward approaches to
Osaka, the economic center of the Toyotomi government. After the 1600
Battle of Sekigahara, Awaji came briefly under the control of the
Ikeda clan of
Himeji Domain. The Ikeda clan abolished Sumoto Castle and built Yura Castle in the northern region of Awaji Island, which was closer to their stronghold at
Himeji Castle. But after the
Battle of Osaka from 1614 to 1615, Awaji was awarded by the
Tokugawa shogunate to the
Hachisuka clan of
Tokushima Domain, who appointed their retainers, the Inada clan, as governors of Awaji. As Sumoto was closer to Tokushima than Yura, the Inada rebuilt Sumoto Castle in the 1630s. Sumoto Castle was held by the Inada clan until the
Meiji restoration of 1868. What remains of the castle today are extensive complex-shaped stone walls. The upper castle was designated as a National Historic Site on January 14, 1999, and the lower castle was also designated as a historic site in Sumoto City. The Sumoto City Awaji Cultural History Museum, which displays materials related to the upper castle, is located on the site of the lower castle. Sumoto Castle was listed as one of the
Continued Top 100 Japanese Castles in 2017. ==See also==