Shobata Castle, Birthplace of Oda Nobunaga
For many years, controversy raged over the exact birthplace of the enigmatic warlord of Owari, Oda Nobunaga. Some claimed he was born in Nagoya Castle, others thought Shobata, or even Furuwatari Castles. According to the ancient manuscript, "Records of Owari Castles," re-discovered around 20 years ago and defining the birth sites of many of Aichi’s famed samurai, the first Unifier of Japan, popular warlord Oda Nobunaga, it appears, was born at Shobata Castle in 1534.
Shobata Castle was constructed by Oda Nobunaga’s grandfather, Oda Nobusada sometime between 1504 and 1521. According to old remaining maps, Shobata was built on a slightly elevated section of land on the delta where the Miyake and the Nikko Rivers met, with these rivers serving as natural moats. The name of the castle originally came from the local area, which translated meant Salt Fields (shio-bata). However, upon building the castle, Nobusada changed the kanji characters to have a similar sound, but with the stronger, more auspicious name of Shobata meaning ``victory banner''.
Shobata was located just a few kilometers south along the river from Owari’s main business and trade center, Tsushima, and straddling the border between Aisai and Inazawa cities in modern day Aichi Prefecture. The 16th Century financially important Tsushima was a lively area, served by three main rivers, it was home to the famed Tsushima Shrine, and had many temples. In fact, there are more temples in Tsushima even now than there are in Kyoto City! There was a large population of craftsmen and merchants in the town itself, and so building a castle to the south of the prosperous city was seen as advantageous.
Very few documents remain showing the size and layout of Shobata Castle, and most of these appear to contradict each other regarding the actual size of the castle. They do agree however that Shobata’s main central area was square shaped and surrounded by moats. According to the few remaining documents, the Sogamai outermost moat system is recorded as being 120 ken, or 254m from north to south, and 104 ken(220m) in length east to west.
The Nagoya Hosa Bunko Tokugawa clan library has a few diagrams and maps showing that Shobata Castle itself is believed to have been 48 ken (101m) from east to west, and 72 ken (152m) north to south, and was surrounded by a double moat containing a number of long, thin, co-joined island-like rings around the castle’s central Honmaru area, which was constructed of high, thick dorui earthen embankments, creating a large, square protective bowl-like compound. The castle featured two gates, one on the east and one on the western sides.
While details, such as the size of the castle mentioned in the remaining documents differ, the fact that the dorui and double moats surrounded it, and the eastern and western gates existed, and that the Miyake River formed part of a natural moat matches both documents and remaining maps.
The southwestern corner had yagura atop it. The other three corners had yokoya, indented and protruding sections offering side flank protection. The koguchi gates were a simple space opened between the doruiearthen embankments and shut with a thick timber framed gate. A long, narrow earthen bridge led across the moats to these gates. This length meant that attackers would be confined to a narrow space and become easy targets when approaching. At their widest, the moats were about 30m wide. The north, east and southern sides had double moat, with the eastern side further protected by the Miyake River as natural moat, while the northwestern area featured a triple moat. Shobata Castle was a hirajiro, a flat land castle, and as such it was probably quite a difficult castle to protect in times of attack, hence the wide double and triple moats built to protect it.
In the year 1533, the court noble, Yamashina Tokitsugu was invited by Nobuhide to Shobata Castle. Yamashina recorded in his remaining diary, the Tokitsugu Kyoki, his surprise at the scale and and workmanship of the castle, and of the hospitality and economic strength of the Oda clan, writing; “The new palace is magnificent, and I was most surprised by it”. He stayed for around 20 days in Owari. Every day he recorded an entry in his diary. The diary tells details of Nobuhide and the Oda clan, and mentions that they played Kenmari, a type of kick ball game popular among the aristocracy of Kyoto, and that numerous other bushi (warriors) under Nobuhide also played. The evenings at Shobata were spent eating, drinking, writing waka poems etcetera. From this we can surmise that there was sufficient garden area within Shobata Castle available for the playing of Kenmari, and that the men of Shobata were cultured enough to enjoy the pastimes of the distant capital’s elite. From his entry regarding the waka poem writing party, we know the castle’s palace had an opening facing towards garden. Child flute players from Tsushima were brought in to play music at this party, which was said to have been wonderful. This leads us to understand that Nobuhide had great influence in Tsushima at that time too. Basically, Yamashina Tokitsugu was treated to the finest hospitality on offer.
While staying at Shobata, Yamashina visited the private home of the Oda clan vassal, Hirata Masahide. The fact that Hirate Masahide was vassal but had a very fine house was of great interest to Yamashina who recorded this information in his notes. According to the diary entries, the architecture and the craftsmanship of the Oda clan vassals were all “exceptional”. From this we know that despite the rural image, the Oda clan and their vassals were financially strong, built fine dwellings and structures and lived quality lives.
Around the time of Nobunaga’s birth in mid 1534, Nobuhide built Furuwatari Castle now located in the south of Nagoya City and on completion, relocated there. Not long after, he gained control of Imagawa Ujitoyo’s Nagoya Castle, and re-positioned his base there.
According to the Shincho Koki, the Chronicles of Lord Nobunaga, Oda Nobunaga was born around the time Nobuhide claimed Nagoya Castle, however, Nobunaga was born in 1534, but Nobuhide only took control of Nagoya Castle in 1538, therefore Nobunaga was born before Nobuhide entered Nagoya Castle.
Shobata Castle appears to have been abandoned not long after the Oda clan moved into Nagoya. Unfortunately, little remains of Shobata Castle. During the Edo period, the Owari Tokugawa clan undertook earthworks to divert the course of the of the Nikko River, and in doing so, changed the course to run directly through the middle of the ruins of Shobata Castle, destroying much of it. Was this deliberate? Were the Tokugawa trying to erase any trace of Nobunaga’s history, or was it simply the best course of action regarding the public works? That much may never be known.
Shobata Castle Today
Shobata Castle’s area extends to Aisai City and Inazawa City, but the center of the castle is estimated to be near Heiwacho Josai (present-day Jonouchi), and the area where the monument is located is considered to be the southernmost part of the castle ruins. While little can be seen of the castle, it remains an important castle ruin when considering the medieval and early modern history of Owari. Today, the bulk of the castle site has been swallowed up by modern housing, and through the rediverted course of the Nikko River conducted duringthe Edo period. Stone monuments and explanatory signs have been placed at the castle site, and at the plaza in front of Shobata Station nearby one can see an approximate model reconstruction of the castle as well as a statue of Nobunaga as a baby in the arms of his parents. The castle site is now designated an Inazawa City Historical Site, and is a must see spot for fans of the mighty Oda Nobunaga
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That’s the statue with the parents looking kind of unsure about what they’ve produced 😄