Tokutan Castle
| Tokutan Castle 徳丹城 |
|
|---|---|
| Yahabe, Iwate Prefecture, Japan | |
 Tokutan Castle
徳丹城 
Tokutan Castle
徳丹城 |
|
| Coordinates | 39°36′26″N 141°10′20″E / 39.6073°N 141.1721°E |
| Type | jōsaku-style Japanese castle |
| Site information | |
| Open to the public |
yes |
| Condition | ruins |
| Site history | |
| Built | 811 AD |
| Built by | Sakanoue no Tamuramaro |
| In use | early Heian period |
| Demolished | unknown |
Tokutan Castle (徳丹城 Tokutan-jo) was an early Heian period jōsaku-style Japanese castle located in what is now the town of Yahaba in Shiwa District, Iwate Prefecture in far northern Honshū, Japan. The site was proclaimed a National Historic Site of Japan on 5 August 1969.
In the late Nara period, after the establishment of a centralized government under the Ritsuryō system, the Yamato court sent a number of military expeditions to what is now the Tōhoku region of northern Japan to bring the local Emishi tribes under its control. The Emishi were able to successfully resist the Japanese for several decades; however, in 802 AD, the Chinjufu Shogun Sakanoue no Tamuramaro defeated Emishi chieftain Aterui, and many of the Emishi tribes in Shiwa region (the Kitakami River Valley) submitted to Japanese rule. In 803 AD, Shiwa Castle was established in what is now part of the city of Morioka to serve as an administrative center for the imperial government. However, the site was prone to flooding, and in 811 AD, a new site was selected approximately ten kilometers to the south. This was the start of Tokutan Castle.
Tokutan Castle was a square enclosure located on a river terrace on the western bank the Kitakami River, approximately 356 meters on each side, consisting of an earthen rampart surmounted by a wooden palisade. Yagura watchtowers were erected at 70-80 meter intervals, with gates in the center of each wall facing each of the cardinal directions. The southeastern corner of the castle was a swamp, and it is uncertain of the walls and palisade extended to this area. Also to the east of the castle is a 400 meter long remnant of a canal, which evidently once connected the castle directly to the Kitakami River. Tokutan Castle appeared to have been partially built on top of an earlier site, with dimensions of approximately 150 meters to a side, which was at an angle to, and extended further to the east than the later, larger, enclosure.
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