En un regard
Le château en bref
Tanesato Castle stands on the left bank of the Akaishi River in Ajigasawa, at an altitude of about 75 m. It is regarded as the cradle of the Tsugaru house: the genealogies place here the settlement of Ōura Mitsunobu, who came from the Kuji area, in 1491. Mitsunobu went on to found Ōura Castle in 1502, a base facing the Tsugaru plain, and died in 1526; he is buried within the Tanesato precinct. This early chronology rests on genealogical tradition, but the ceramics recovered from the main enclosure, dated from the late fifteenth to the early sixteenth century, are consistent with Mitsunobu's time. Material from the early seventeenth century indicates that the site remained occupied after the centre of power had moved.
The whole complex extends over about 700 m by 350 m, with terraces that probably carried temples and warrior residences. The main enclosure, roughly 200 m by 100 m, is defended by moats and by a cliff to the east. Its summit yielded a large post-built structure, rebuilt three times and interpreted as the lord's residence, while smaller buildings occupied the lower levels. On the south-western slope, an oval enclosure of about 15 m by 20 m surrounds Mitsunobu's tomb. Excavated from 1988 to 1997 and test-trenched until 2008, the site joined the national historic site of the Tsugaru clan castles on 19 December 2002. A museum, the Mitsunobu-kō no yakata, presents the history of the family.
