Maiko Battery
The Akashi Domain Maiko Battery was a Bakumatsu period coastal artillery battery erected by Akashi Domain on the Seto Inland Sea coast of what is now Tarumi-ku, Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. The ruins were designated a National Historic Site in 2007. It is also called the Maiko Hōdai-ato after its location on Kaji Bay.
Background
In the late Edo period, the Tokugawa shogunate was increasing alarmed by incursions by foreign ships into Japanese territorial waters, fearing that these kurofune warships of the United States or other Western powers would attempt to end Japan's self-imposed national isolation policy by force, or would attempt an invasion of Japan by landing hostile military forces. Numerous feudal domains were ordered to establish fortifications along their coastlines with shore artillery located at strategic locations. The mostcritical locations were perceived to be at Edo Bay, where the shogunal capital was situated, and Osaka Bay, which controlled the seaward approaches to the imperial capital of Kyoto. The daimyō of Akashi Domain, Matsudaira Yoshinori was a strong supporter of the shogunate, and was ordered by Shogun Tokugawa Iemochi in 1863 to construct a fortification to control the Akashi Strait, between mainland Honshu and Awaji Island, which was then northern approach to Osaka. The design of the fortification was by Katsu Kaishū, who supervised the construction with the assistance of the nearby Kobe Naval Training Center. Construction was completed by 1865. A similar fortification, the '''Tokushima Domain Matsuho Battery Site was constructed on Awaji Island to control the Akashi Strait from the opposite side.