Edo Castle

Type Object Region Japan Time 1590–1600

Edo Castle was built by Tokugawa Ieyasu in the 1590s at Edo (modern Tokyo) as the political and military center of his Kantō domain, substantially co…

Timeline

1590–1592Edo · Musashi ProvinceAfter the Battle of Odawara in 1590, Tokugawa Ieyasu received the eight provinces of Kantō and took up residence at Edo, immediately beginning rebuilding on the existing castle site, filling in the bay and expanding the honmaru, laying the foundation for large-scale castle construction.
1593–1598Edo Castle · EdoIn the mid-to-late 1590s, Ieyasu mobilized daimyo from northern Kantō and laborers to build multi-tiered baileys, deepen the inner and outer moats, and erect an early tenshukaku, significantly enhancing Edo Castle's defensive and residential functions.
c. 1599–1600Edo Castle · EdoBefore the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, Edo Castle had taken shape with the honmaru at its core, ringed by multiple baileys and moats, becoming Ieyasu's rear base for eastern and western campaigns; after the war it was further expanded into the shogunate's official castle.

Sources

江户城 — 尾藤成和 (1995)
The Cambridge History of Japan, Volume 4: Early Modern Japan — John Whitney Hall et al. (1991)