Masuyama Castle

Architecture, patrimoine et histoire · Préfecture de Toyama

Masuyama Castle, originally called Wada Castle, occupies a hill about 120 metres high on the eastern edge of the Tonami Plain, where three former districts of Etchū Province met. Mentioned as early as 1362 in the struggles of the Nanboku-chō period, it became in the 16th century a major prize contested by the Jinbō clan, the Ikkō sect leagues and the Uesugi: Uesugi Kenshin took it in 1576. After his death the region passed into the sphere of Oda Nobunaga; Sassa Narimasa made the castle one of his residences, and after his submission in 1585 Nakagawa Mitsushige, a retainer of Maeda Toshiie, settled there. The stronghold was abandoned in the early 17th century. Covering about 1.4 km from north to south and 0.9 km from east to west, the site ranks among the largest mountain fortresses of the Hokuriku region. No buildings survive, but one can still read the vast central bailey with its watchtower platform, secondary baileys, dry moats, trenches and earthen ramparts; the castle town lay on the opposite bank of the Wada River. Designated a National Historic Site in 2009, it has been listed among the Continued Top 100 Japanese Castles since 2017.