page_title: Morioka Castle
section_title: Structures and gardens
hierarchical_section_title: Morioka Castle / Structures and gardens
caption_attribution_description: English: Morioka_Castle in Morioka, Iwate prefecture, Japan 日本語: 盛岡城。所在地は岩手県盛岡市。
context_page_description: Morioka Castle is a hirayama-style Japanese castle constructed in 1611. It was the seat of the Nanbu clan, a tozama daimyō clan who ruled over Morioka Domain, Mutsu Province in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan during the Edo period Tokugawa shogunate. The castle is located in what is now the center of the city of Morioka, Iwate Prefecture, Japan. It was also referred to as Kozukata Castle, but strictly speaking this name pertains to the predecessor of Morioka Castle on the same site.
context_section_description: Morioka Castle occupies a long and narrow elliptically-shape hill approximately 300 meter long by 100 meter wide. The southeastern side faces the Nakatsu River, and formerly the main stream of Kitakami River protected the western side. As white  granite was readily available in the vicinity, most of the ramparts were faced in stone, which was unusual for castles in the Tōhoku region at the time. Both the Toyotomi and Tokugawa governments encouraged the Nanbu to build a strong fortification, partly as a counter to the strength of the Date clan to the south.
  The Inner bailey is a square area approximately 60 meters on a side, with a large gate on its eastern end. In the southern corner was a three-story yagura, which served as the tenshu after the main tower was lost in a fire in 1634. The remainder of the area was occupied by the palace and administrative structures of the Nanbu clan.
  A secondary enclosure is positioned at the northern part of the inner citadel, and a red-painted bridge spans a moat that divides the two enclosures. There is a tertiary enclosure positioned at the northern end; a Koshi no kuruwa (腰曲輪), a Awaji maru (淡路丸) and a Sakakiyama kuruwa (榊山曲輪) enclose the inner citadel. Each area is protected by a huge masugata style composite gate.
  All of the structures of the castle were dismantled during the early Meiji period, with the exception of a storehouse with thick mortar walls, reconstructed in the interior part of the castle, and a gate which is now relocated to a Zen temple within the city.
  The surrounding Iwate Park (岩手公園, Iwate Kōen) (now known as Morioka Castle Ruins Park (盛岡城跡公園, Morioka-jō ato kōen)) contains a monument inscribed with a poem of Kenji Miyazawa, and also a monument in memory of Takuboku Ishikawa inscribed with one of his poems:
  不来方のお城の草に寝ころびて空に吸はれし十五の心
  Kozukata no oshiro no kusa ni nekorobite sora ni suwareshi jū-go no kokoro
  
  (English: I laid down on the grass of the Kozukata Castle, absorbed by the sky; my heart of fifteen)
caption: Ninomaru
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