Sumpu Castle in Shizuoka

Sumpu Castle (or Sunpu) is a Japanese castle at the central part of Shizuoka city (Shizuoka Prefecture). It is most well known as the “retirement castle” of Tokugawa Ieyasu (the founder of Tokugawa shogunate) after he relinquished the shogunate to Hidetada.

It is not certain exactly when a castle was built on this site. Sumpu (the former name of Shizuoka) was originally the base of the Imagawa clan. After Imagawa Yoshimoto was defeated at the Battle of Okehazama in 1560, Suruga Province passed to the Takeda clan, and then to Ieyasu, who had spent his youth in Sunpu as Yoshimoto’s hostage. In 1585, Ieyasu constructed a new Sumpu Castle on the approximate site of the former fortified Imagawa residence.

Sumpu Castle Park is located 15 minutes by foot from JR Shizuoka Station.

Photos: Junko Nagata © Japanbyweb.com