01
Historical record
A castle on a river delta by the sea
Ako Castle is a flatland castle at the tip of the delta formed by the Chikusa River (then called the Kumami River). In its day the southern half of the second enclosure and the west side of the third faced the Seto Inland Sea, making it a sea castle as well. Earlier, after the Battle of Sekigahara, Ikeda Nagamasa, brother of Himeji's lord Ikeda Terumasa, had built a simple earthwork castle on the site.[5][3][4]
02
Historical record
Thirteen years of building under Asano Naganao
In 1645 Asano Naganao arrived from Kasama in Hitachi Province (today's Ibaraki) with a domain of 53,500 koku. He had his retainer Kondo Masazumi, a military scholar, design the castle. Construction began in 1648 and took thirteen years, finishing in 1661.[2][5]
03
Historical record
An unusual seaside flatland castle
The second enclosure wraps around the main one, while the third sits to one side of the second; the city describes this as a very unusual "modified concentric" seaside flatland castle. It had ten corner turrets, twelve gates and five box-shaped gateways, but only a keep base was built, never a keep.[2][5]
04
Historical record
The sword incident and the Chushingura story
On March 14, 1701, the third lord, Asano Naganori, attacked a court official inside Edo Castle; he was ordered to commit seppuku that same day and the Asano house was abolished. In December 1702, former Ako retainers led by Oishi Kuranosuke raided the Kira mansion in Edo, the event later dramatized as Chushingura. The castle then passed to the Nagai family and, from 1706, to the Mori, who ruled for twelve generations until the Meiji era.[4][3]
05
Historical record
Torn down and turned into fields
Abandonment was decided in 1872, and in the 1880s the gates, turrets, storehouses and palace were demolished; much of the castle became fields and housing. After the 1892 Chikusa River flood, stones from the walls between the Ninomaru Gate and the Shimizu Gate were reused for the riverbanks. In 1928 a middle school was built in the main enclosure.[3][4][5]
06
Historical record
Protected, and slowly coming back
The Ote Gate and its corner turret were rebuilt in 1955, and after the site became a National Historic Site in 1971 the city began buying back land and restoring it. When the high school moved out in 1981, excavation of the main enclosure began; the palace layout was recreated in 1989, the Honmaru Gate rebuilt in 1992–1996 and the Umayaguchi Gate in 2001. In 2002 the gardens of the main and second enclosures became a Place of Scenic Beauty, and in 2006 the castle was named one of Japan's 100 Fine Castles.[4][5][2][7]
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