Sunomata Castle

Sunomata Castle is a makeshift castle Hideyoshi Toyotomi built for his lord, Nobunaga Oda, during his war with the Saitō clan. Hideyoshi built this fortification to oppose Inabayama Castle. It's fabled in folklore that former sandel barrer built the castle overnight, greatly intimidating the Saitō forces and triggering a wave of defections, (including the Mino Three).

Role in Games

In Samurai Warriors, the construction of Sunomata does not have its own stage, but is the focal point of the struggle for Inabayama Castle.

The Castle is made a proper battlefield for the Samurai Warriors series in its fifth main title, Samurai Warriors 5. The construction of Sunomata is a lower path battle of Nobunaga's storymode. It runs parallel to the battle of Inabayama Castle. Hideyoshi enlists the help of Koroku Hachisuka and his "big brother" (teacher), Sandayū Momochi to outmaneuver the Saitō forces and build a castle right at the nose of Inabayama fortress. Once constructed, Hideyoshi has to defend it long enough for Nobunaga's main invasion force to arrive. The battle of Inabayama Castle picks up right where the battle of Sunomata Castle ends.

The battle appears in the Taikō Risshiden series, when the player (Tōkichirō) receives their orders from Nobunaga to build the castle at Sunomata to help prepare for the assault on the Saitō. The player should seek help from Koroku to clear the mission. The enemy informants include Ōsawa Masahide in the first, Nagai Michitoshi in the second and Saitō Tatsuoki in the fourth.

Historical Information

The exact year of construction of Sunomata Castle is not certain. Ōta Gyūichi records indicate that it was built in 1561, but it does his records do not specify who built it. In contrast, the Taikōki claims the castle was created by Hideyoshi in 1566, but the exact date cannot be specified.

Taikōki claims that Oda Nobunaga's instructed Sakuma Nobumori and Shibata Katsuie to move to Sunomata to build the castle, but they were prevented by the Saitō forces. After the failure of Sakuma and Shibata, Hideyoshi volenteered to build the castle. Hideyoshi collaborated with Koroku to build the castle during heavy rain at night. Then they attacked the Saitō army in the morning. As a result of this success, Sunomata Castle was nicknamed "The castle was built in one night", Sunomata Ichiya Castle.

Considering the magnitude of such a feat, some postulate that Hideyoshi merely built an outer shell or one full wall of the castle instead of the whole thing. Such construction allowed the Oda forces to intimidate the Saitō out of attacking their construction efforts. However, the Taikōki's claim is debated and the historisity of the claim that Hideyoshi could build a castle in a single night doubted.

In 1584, Sunomata Castle was renovated by Iki Tadatsugu, a vassal of Ikeda Tsuneoki. In 1586, the castle was damaged in the aftermath of the flood. Causing the castle to be abandoned. In 1991, a faux castle tower was reconstructed, to serve as a local history museum. This castle is modelled after Ōgaki Castle, not what its thought the castle actually looked like.