The Legend of the One Night Castle

As cherry blossoms tinted the city pink, we began searching for good 'viewing' locations. Sunomata Castle, in our very own Ogaki, had miles of cherry trees and nearly as many street vendors selling cherry blossom flavored ice cream and fried squid on a stick. Sunomata Castle isn't just a festive location for flower viewing parties, but has a rich history, evident in its alternate name - The One Night Castle.

During Japan's turbulent feudal period, many warlords attempted to unify the nation. Toyotomi Hideyoshi was successful, however, and his unification brought hundreds of years of peace to Japan. While there are many legends behind Hideyoshi's rise to fame and leadership, the legend of the One Night Castle is one of the more popular ones.

As the legend goes - according to various accounts that I've collected both by word of mouth and on the internet - while serving as Oda Nobunaga's general, Hideyoshi was given the task of securing this region. Because he was given a limited number of men, Hideyoshi needed to do something quick and impressive. So, working under the cover of night, Hideyoshi and his men constructed a 'castle' from paper and logs they floated down the nearby river. When the local warlords woke up the next morning, a castle-like fortress had literally sprung up overnight. Because they were impressed with his seeming manpower and strength, Hideyoshi easily pried the region from the other warlords. (And then he probably used all his new manpower to build a real castle.)

Hideyoshi's legendary One Night Castle was, of course, burnt to the ground many years ago in the battle to conquer Japan. The castle that is seen today was rebuilt fairly recently by the city of Ogaki to honor Hideyoshi and his legacy.