When Japan was unified at the start ofthe Edo era, Horio Yoshiharu (1542-1611) was appointed the first lord of Izumo Province. Upon arriving, he made plans for a new castle and capital city, and his son Tadauji (1578-1604) suggested the current strategic location of Matsue Castle. While they did not initially agree on the location, Yoshiharu conceded after Tadauji died of a sudden illness. With Yoshiharu handling things despite his retirement, Tadauji’s son Tadaharu (1596-1633) succeeded leadership at a very young age. Alas, he died leaving no succesors, and control of the domain was left to another short-lived clan after that.
July 5, 2013
How to choose your castle location
Posted by Buri-chan under Historical Anecdotes | Tags: Horio, matsue castle, samurai |1 Comment
June 19, 2014 at 2:38 pm
[…] defensible location, it wasn’t in a good spot for raising a bustling economy around it. Thus, they decided to build a new castle in a better location, and Matsue Castle was completed four years later in 1611. Matsue Castle remains one of the 12 last […]