Qualla: Tsu Castle

Tsu Castle: Introduction

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Fraxinus2, CC BY-SA 4.0. Thirteen hundred defenders held Tsu Castle against 30,000 attackers in the autumn of 1600 -- and won. The western armies under Mori Terumoto and Chosokabe Morichika burned most of the fortress around them, but Tomita Nobutaka and his wife Yuki no Kata refused to yield. Their stand during the Battle of Sekigahara earned the Tomita clan the shogunate's gratitude and a larger domain. Two and a half centuries later, Tsu Castle would make history again -- this time by betraying the shogunate entirely, defecting to the imperial forces at a pivotal moment in the Boshin War and helping bring down the Tokugawa order it had once defended.

Read more: Tsu Castle on Qualla

Image: Fraxinus2 | CC BY-SA 4.0

Tsu Castle: Rivers for Moats

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Alpsdake, CC BY-SA 3.0. The castle began modestly in 1558 when Hosono Fujiatsu built a fortification at the junction of the Ano and Iwata rivers, using the waterways as natural moats. The port of Anotsu had once been a vital stop on Japan's eastern coastal trade routes, but an earthquake at the end of t...

Read more: Tsu Castle on Qualla

Image: Alpsdake | CC BY-SA 3.0

Tsu Castle: The Siege That Forged a Legacy

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Antique1967 at Japanese Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 was the contest that decided Japan's future, and Tsu Castle became one of its fiercest side engagements. The Tomita clan sided with Tokugawa Ieyasu's eastern coalition. The western alliance responded by sending an overwhelming force against the ca...

Read more: Tsu Castle on Qualla

Image: Antique1967 at Japanese Wikipedia | CC BY-SA 3.0

Tsu Castle: The Master Builder's Touch

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Alexrk2, CC BY-SA 3.0. The clan that replaced the Tomita would define Tsu Castle for the next 260 years. The Todo clan arrived with Todo Takatora at their head -- a man widely regarded as the finest castle architect of his generation. Takatora had already helped design Edo Castle, Nagoya Castle, and Ze...

Read more: Tsu Castle on Qualla

Image: Alexrk2 | CC BY-SA 3.0

Tsu Castle: The Betrayal That Changed Japan

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit 663highland, CC BY 2.5. When the Boshin War erupted in 1868, Tsu Domain tried to stay neutral. That attempt collapsed after the Battle of Toba-Fushimi, when the domain abruptly defected to the Satcho Alliance and attacked the retreating shogunate forces. The shock of Tsu's betrayal -- from a domain that...

Read more: Tsu Castle on Qualla

Image: 663highland | CC BY 2.5