Kitanoshō Castle

Architecture, patrimoine et histoire · Préfecture de Fukui

In the heart of Fukui, a few minutes' walk from the station, a small park and a shrine mark the site of one of the most short-lived and spectacular castles of the Sengoku period. Kitanoshō Castle was built from 1575 by Shibata Katsuie, the general of Oda Nobunaga entrusted with governing Echizen Province, probably at the confluence of the Asuwa and Yoshino rivers. A flatland castle, it is said to have had a nine-storey keep, which would have made it one of the most imposing of its time. Its history ended abruptly in 1583: defeated by Hashiba (Toyotomi) Hideyoshi at the Battle of Shizugatake, Katsuie fell back to Kitanoshō and took his own life together with his wife Oichi, Nobunaga's sister, as the castle burned. At the beginning of the Edo period, Yūki Hideyasu built Fukui Castle over its remains, so the site long remained poorly known. Excavations carried out by the city since 1993 have uncovered a moat about 25 m wide, stone walls, a gate, and pottery and coins from the late 16th century. Today's park, with Shibata Shrine dedicated to Katsuie and Oichi, statues and a small museum, keeps the memory of this tragic story alive.