Ōtawara Castle

En un regard

Le château en bref

Ōtawara Castle stands on a hill about 25 m above the Sabi River, along the great Ōshū road, a position that explains the interest successive powers took in it. Ōtawara Sukekiyo built it in 1543 or 1545, the city leaving both dates open, abandoning the Minakuchi residence. His family stayed for some 330 years. Hideyoshi stopped here for two nights in 1590 during his expedition north; ten years later, Tokugawa Ieyasu ordered repairs in order to stand up to Uesugi Kagekatsu, and the great earthen rampart and the so-called Edo moat probably date from this period, according to the city. In 1627, the shogunate stored 1,000 koku of reserve rice here, a sign that the stronghold remained a gateway to the north. The castle was damaged by the 1710 earthquake, which brought down stone walls of the ni-no-maru, and then by the fire of 1825. In 1868, Aizu troops attacked it while it served as a base for the imperial side. The buildings were demolished after 1872. In 1886 the land passed to Watanabe Kunitake, Minister of Finance, whose son Chifuyu donated it to the city in 1937. Ryūjō Park, known for its cherry trees, preserves its terrain.