Uwajima Castle is located on a hill at the center of the city of Uwajima in southern part of former
Iyo Province. It was originally built on the seashore, with the ocean forming a natural moat on three sides; however, due to
land reclamation it is now in the center of the city. During the
Heian period, Uwajima (notably the island of Hiburijima in Uwajima Bay) was center of piracy in the
Seto Inland Sea and became the stronghold of
Fujiwara no Sumitomo in his rebellion. In 941 Tachibana Tachibana, a guard envoy, set up a fort in this area when suppressing the rebellion, and named the fortification "Itashima Marugushi Castle". During the
Muromachi period, a branch of the
Saionji family was appointed as governor of the area by the
Ashikaga shogunate, but was constantly being invaded his more powerful and aggressive neighbors. The Saionji survived by the fluid loyalties and fierce resistance, but were eventually overcome by
Chōsokabe Motochika, who was in turn overthrown by the forces of
Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Iyo Province was given to
Kobayakawa Takakage, who assigned the area around Uwajima to his adopted son and half-brother, Hidekane. Takakage was later transferred to
Kyushu and was replaced by Hideyoshi's general Toda Katsutaka, who expanded on the minor fortification, transforming it into a
Sengoku period castle. Toda, who ruled with extreme harshness, went insane and died during the
invasion of Korea without heir. Hideyoshi then assigned
Tōdō Takatora to the domain. A noted castle designer, Takatora spent six years re-building the castle, starting in 1601. Under the
Tokugawa shogunate,
Uwajima Domain was assigned to
Date Hidemune, the eldest son of
Date Masamune and head of a cadet branch of the
Date clan. The castle was renamed Uwajima Castle around 1617. The castle was severely damage due to an earthquake in 1649. Major repairs and expansion began in 1650, but was not completed until 1671. Date Munetoshi replaced the former
tenshu with the current structure in 1666. The castle was severely damaged again in the 1854
Ansei great earthquakes, during which time the
tenshu and 24
yagura were damaged and four
yagura completely destroyed. Major restoration work continued to 1860. The Date clan continued to rule Uwajima Domain until the
Meiji restoration. During the
Bakumatsu period,
Date Munenari introduced military reforms and built up a western-style army; however, the domain did to participate in the
Boshin War and the castle was undamaged. ==Current situation==