Nagashima

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Nagashima 長島
near Nagoya, Japan
Type	Series of fortifications, incl. a fortified Buddhist monastery and pre-Azuchi-Momoyama period Japanese castle
Built	1550s-1560s
Built by	Ito Shigeharu (castle), Ikkō-ikki (fortification network)
Construction materials	Wood, stone, earthworks
In use	1555-1574
Demolished	1574 by Oda Nobunaga
Current condition	Ganshō-ji temple is rebuilt; remnants of fortifications are not extant and exact location is unknown
Controlled by	Ito Shigeharu (c. 1555), Ikkō-ikki (late 1550s-1574)
Garrison	20,000 (incl. civilians)
Battles/wars	Sieges of Nagashima (1571-1574)

This article is about the series of Ikkō-ikki fortresses. For the Japanese baseball player, see Shigeo Nagashima.

Nagashima (長島, Nagashima^?) was a series of fortresses and fortifications controlled by the Ikkō-ikki, a sect of warrior monks in Japan's Sengoku period who opposed samurai rule. It was attacked and destroyed by Oda Nobunaga in the 1570s. This, combined with the destruction of the Ikki's other main fortress, the Ishiyama Hongan-ji, several years later, ended the threat the Ikko-ikki posed to Nobunaga and other samurai conquerors.

The fortress was situated on a swampy delta, on the border of Owari and Ise Provinces, at the point where three rivers converge, to the southeast of the modern-day city of Nagoya. Nagashima was in fact a number of smaller fortifications surrounding two primary buildings and not a single fortress. Nagashima Castle was built in 1555 by Ito Shigeharu, and seized by the Ikkō-ikki shortly afterwards, in much the same way they had seized a number of other daimyo's holdings. The Ganshōji fortified monastery formed the second center of Nagashima's defense.

The Oda clan, which controlled nearby lands, was wary of the Ikki's growing power, and engaged them at Ogie Castle in 1569. The Ikki were victorious, and Nobunaga's brother Nobuoki was killed. Nobunaga returned to lay siege to the Ikki's fortress three times, before finally subduing it in 1574 with the help of the Kumano Suigun (Navy) under the control of the Kuki family. He set the wooden structure ablaze, and none of the fortress cathedral's 20,000 inhabitants escaped.

According to the members of the Nagashima Historical Society, none of the main castle of Nagashima survived and its true location is unknown. What is believed to be the most probable location is now the site of a junior high school, which was identified in accordance to written descriptions of the area in the 16th century and what is believed to be an old moat. The reconstucted keep was destroyed by lightning in 1959, but the Ganshōji was rebuilt a short distance inland. It now contains a stone stupa erected as a memorial to those killed in the burning of the fortress.