, also known as à Âta Sukenaga (太ç° è³Âé·), was a Japanese samurai lord, poet and Buddhist monk. He took the tonsure as a Buddhist priest in 1478, and he also adopted the Buddhist name, Dà Âkan, by which he is known today. Dà Âkan is best known as the architect and builder of Edo Castle (now the Imperial Palace) in what is today modern Tokyo; and he is considered the founder of the castle town which grew up around that à Ânin era fortress.
The à Âta clan originated in 15th-century Musashi Province. They claimed descent from Minamoto no Yorimasa, and through that branch of the Minamoto they claimed kinship with the Seiwa-Genji.
The feudal progenitor of the clan name, à Âta Sukekuni, established himself at à Âta in Tanba Province, and he adopted this location name as his own. He traced his lineage as a fifth-generation descendant of Yorimasa.
In a special context created by the Tokugawa shogunate, the à Âta clan were identified as tozama or outsiders, in contrast with the fudai or insider daimyà  clans which were hereditary vassals or allies of the Tokugawas.
In, 1638, à Âta Sukemune, the grandson of à Âta Yasusuke, was granted Nishio Domain in Mikawa Province; and then, in 1645, he and his family was transferred to Hamamatsu Domain (35,000 koku) in Tà Âtà Âmi Province. Yasusuke's descendants were moved several times by shogunate decree, residing successively in 1687 at Tanaka Domain in Suruga Province, in 1703 at Tanakura Domain in Mutsu Province, and in 1728 at Tatebayashi Domain in Kà Âzuke Province. Then, in the period spanning the years 1746 through 1868, this branch of the à Âta clan established itself at Kakegawa Domain (53,000 koku) in Tà Âtà Âmi.
The head of this clan line was ennobled as a "Viscount" in the Meiji period.
Although born into the à Âta clanâÂÂand claimed by the à Âta as a clan celebrityâÂÂDà Âkan served as a vassal of the à Âgigayatsu branch of the Uesugi clan which occupied land in the Kantà  region of Honshà «.
Dà Âkan is credited with designing and building Edo Castle for (1443âÂÂ1494) over the fortifications Edo Shigenaga had earlier built. Work on the defensive walls and moats began in 1457; and he took the name Dà Âkan the following year.
à Âgigayatsu Uesugi Mochitomo ordered à Âta Michizane and Dà Âkan to construct fortifications at Kawagoe in 1457.
As a military strategist, he is reputed to have been an effective tactician; but political intrigues can be as deadly as any battle. Despite years of distinguished service, the Uesugi clan leader proved fickle. DÃ Âkan met an untimely end at 's home in Sagami (modern-day Kanagawa) after he was falsely accused of disloyalty during a period when the Uesugi family struggled through an internal clan conflict. His death poem is as follows:
Following his death, the castle was then abandoned until it was taken over by Ieyasu in 1590.
DÃ Âkan was also well-read in classical (Heian period) literature; and like other samurai of his time, DÃ Âkan was said to have been a skilled poet, but only fragments attributed to him have survived.
DÃ Âkan is also credited with having selected the site of the Hikawa Shrine, which is dedicated to Sugawara no Michizane, the kami of poetry and scholarship. Hikawa Shrine is located very near Edo Castle.
Dà Âkan's residence in Kamakura became Eishà Â-ji, a Buddhist temple. The temple complex was founded by Okaji, a daughter of à Âta Yasusuke who would have been one of Dà Âkan's great-great-grandsons. Okaji was one of Tokugawa Ieyasu's attendants, and she later became a foster mother to Tokugawa Yorifusa (1603âÂÂ61), the founder of the Mito branch of the Tokugawa family. After Ieyasu's death, Okatsu became a nun, taking the name Eishoin. The third shà Âgun, Tokugawa Iemitsu (1604âÂÂ51), granted her the property her ancestors had once owned. In 1636, Eishoin had a temple built and she invited a daughter of Yorifusa to join her. Eisho-ji's prosperity helped preserve the memory of the 15th century ancestor who once lived in the same place.
In the late 16th century, Dà Âkan's Edo Castle was chosen as the new home of Tokugawa Ieyasu, who had been persuaded by Toyotomi Hideyoshi to transfer the seat of his clan holdings into the Kantà Â. With the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate in the early 17th century, Edo Castle became the center of the shogunate government. When the shogunate was displaced in the Meiji Restoration in the late 19th century, the newly named Tokyo became an Imperial capital with an Imperial Palace rising from the former shà Âgun's stronghold. Every October 1, modern Tokyo celebrates the anniversary of its founding, which becomes a festival in honor of the memory of the samurai who would become honored as the founder of a great city.
The city of Isehara celebrates DÃ Âkan's contributions to the area with the annual DÃ Âkan festival each summer.
DÃ Âkan's 15th century poetic description of what was once just a fortified hill on the Sumida River near Edo Bay would become the basis for metropolitan Tokyo Governor Ryokichi Minobe's 1971 re-election slogan: "Give Tokyo back its blue sky!"
Instead of stone walls, the defense works around the 15th-century castle were only grassy embankments, and the structures inside them were not grand. The initial enclosure which served as the castle's core area, the space which would have been DÃ Âkan's hon-maru, was modestly sized; but the moats were extensive for that time period. These moats and their locations would figure prominently in the serial phases of construction and development which followed.
DÃ Âkan is also credited with diverting the Hira River east at Kandabashi to create the Nihonbashi River.
Celebrations attending the 500th Anniversary of Greater Tokyo illuminated parts of the story of DÃ Âkan's life and achievements; and since that time, he has remained a well-known figure in modern popular culture.