Jin’ya – A castle that isn’t a castle.

     

Jin’ya?
Castle in Japanese – 城, represented a lot of things. It ranged from something massive and modern like Nagoya or Himeji castles right down to the simplest of stockade, which is probably now nothing more than a site marker in the form of a post in the ground.

It is a little confusing then, that there was a particular type of fortification that served many of the same functions as any large, Edo-period castle but was instead known as a Jin’ya. Well, just to be clear, they would never have been able to withstand any sustained assault but it was from within their offices that the domain was administered, just like at the larger castles.

…Jin’ya??
Jin’ya, written as 陣屋, can be a little tricky to translate. Depending on your source, the following words may pop up: Magistrate’s office, Encampment, Government house, etc…

Generally, Jin’ya were located in domains valued up to 30,000 koku – which is what Wikipedia says. According to a recent book purchase though, it seems there were plenty of domains valued over the 30,000-koku figure. Akizuki Jin’ya in Fukuoka Prefecture for example, was valued at 50,000 koku at one point. And, I’m not having a go at Wikipedia’s contributers. To be honest, the average koku value does tend to hover around the 30,000 mark.

Jin’ya were found all over Japan, and in rather large numbers. Many were built on land held by the Tokugawa Shogunate and others were set-up by Daimyo as mini-domains within their own borders. Some were even established at decommissioned castles. Nagayama Jin’ya in Oita prefecture to name just one.

Akizuki Jin’ya / Jō
Depending on which resource you refer to, the H.Q. of a certain Kuroda Nagaoki (third son of Kuroda Nagamasa) in 1623 was Akizuki castle (秋月城) or Akizuki Jin’ya (秋月陣屋). Whatever its label, let’s have a look at how it may have once looked:

Akizuki Jin'ya

The rear & the side defences cannot clearly be understood viewing this scale model. After refering to my field notes, those three sides were inaccessable due to a creek & embankments. Along the front however is a moat, several multi-story turrets & a main gate. Perhaps it also isn’t so clear but their are two enclosures. One containing the offices and an “L” shaped horse stable. The other presumably containing the lord’s residence.

In conclusion
So, there you have it folks. I hope I’ve been able to clear up what a Jin’ya is and isn’t. In the end, I’m not so sure if I have. Suffice it to say, It’s a Jin’ya if it says it’s a Jin’ya.

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  • http://chaari.wordpress.com Travis

    Thank you for addressing this subject. I’ve yet to visit any jin’ya myself (is Nijô jin’ya the same kind of thing, or just a different thing with the same name?), but had had the impression they were far smaller and less castle-like than this Akizuki Jin’ya you show here. Essentially, I thought a domain’s jin’ya was essentially just a single building, with no real defenses, like the central administrative and/or residential building of a castle, without the rest of the castle. Like the Ninomaru Residence of Nijô-jô without the rest of the compound. But here you’ve shown that the line between the two can actually be quite blurry. Given the size of this Akizuki complex, and the presence of a moat, defensive walls and towers, it looks an awful lot like a castle…

    I’d be most curious to learn more about this.

  • admin

    Thanks for your comment Travis,

    I think my goal with this post was just to present the information I had, and to say I don’t know the whole story either. In hindsight, a poor goal. But, by posting even this, it is an indication of my interest in them and a sign that I’ll be investigating the topic more in the future.

    Given the large number of Jin’ya (keep an eye out for a near-future post on the topic) that existed, I’d have to conclude there was a great variety in their layouts/defensive capabilities. But, given the scarcity of Jin’ya remains, it’s really hard to make too many conclusions. Yes, Akizuki is quite castle-like but I think your idea of what a Jin’ya is, is accurate. Or at least as accurate as what I have presented.

    Here is a rebuilt example of Jin’ya, that of Mikazuki Jin’ya and it looks like you’d need to be a pretty good pole-vaulter to get in.