Yamanaka Castle Hojo Ujiyasu Yamanaka Castle was established by Hojo Ujiyasu in the 1560’s in what is now eastern Mishima, Shizuoka Prefecture. It was to be a first line of western defense in protecting the main Hojo Castle at Odawara. Carved and dug from the side of a [...]
Iwamura Castle Iwamura Castle is considered one of Japan’s Best Three Yamajiro, mountaintop castles, and was once under the command of a warrior woman. Built atop a 717m high peak as protection for the south-eastern areas of Mino Province, Iwamura Castle, also known as Kirigajo, (Castle of the Mist) located above the township [...]
Gifu Castle Gifu Castle has long been associated with the Sengoku, or warring States period, and has long been a symbol of Gifu City. Originally known as Inabayama Castle, it was first built by the Nikaido clan around 1201. Over the last 800 years it has been enlarged and strengthened by daimyo [...]
Fukui Castle, Home of Ieyasu’s Secret Son Fukui Castle was built by Tokugawa Ieyasu’s secret son, Yuki Hideyasu in 1606. Ieyasu had 19 wives and concubines, bearing 11 sons and 5 daughters. Yuki Hideyasu was Ieyasu’s second son, although born not to his wife, Tsukiyama Dono, but to her servant, Oman! When Oman became pregnant, [...]
Iwakura Castle Iwakura Castle was a hira-jiro, a flat-land castle located on the plains that would become Iwakura City, Aichi Prefecture. At one stage it rivaled Kiyosu Castle in size and stature. Constructed in 1479, it covered an area of 900m north to south and 400m east to west. Two sets of moats, [...]
Kiyosu Castle Kiyosu Castle was first built around 1405 by Shiba Yoshishige, the Governor of Owari, as a major strategic defense, and later the seat of power for the Owari (now Aichi Prefecture) region. One of the two Oda clans, administrators of Owari, the southern Owari based Oda, took control of southern [...]
Asuke Castle, Aichi Prefecture Asuke Castle in Aichi Prefecture was a small, but vitally important castle that saw a great deal of battle action. Asuke Castle is one of Japan’s first and best examples of an authentically reconstructed Yamashirotype castle of the Sengoku period. Asuke Castle Main Gate [...]
Ueda Castle (Nagano Prefecture) Ueda Castle in Nagano Prefecture once sat on a cliff facing the Saigawa River. Ueda Castle was also known as Amagafuchi-Jo, Isesaki-Jo, Matsuo-Jo and even Sanada-Jo after it’s first master, Sanada Masayuki who built the castle around 1583. The sturdy but small fortress made good use of the surrounding [...]
Hamamatsu Castle, The Castle of Success (Shizuoka Prefecture) Hamamatsu Castle in Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture was originally called Hikuma Castle, or Shusse jo（Castle of Success) and was built by Imagawa Sadatsuke around 1532 on a small hill. With the fall of the Imagawa clan after defeat by Oda Nobunaga at Okehazama in 1560, the [...]
Tsu Castle (Mie Prefecture) Tsu Castle in Tsu City, Mie Prefecture, was first built by Hosono Fujiatsu in 1558 and known as Anotsu Castle, after the old name for the region. The site was chosen as the Ano and Iwata Rivers come together, forming a natural moat around the precincts, and the nearby [...]