Yuasa Castle

Architecture, patrimoine et histoire · Préfecture de Wakayama

Yuasa Castle stood on Mount Aoki, in the Aoki district of the town of Yuasa, Arida District. It was founded in 1143 by Yuasa Munashige, founder of the powerful Yuasa warrior league (Yuasa-tō), which dominated the Arida area from the late Heian period to the era of the Northern and Southern Courts. Reputed to be impregnable, it fell in 1447 only at the third assault by the Hatakeyama, military governors of Kii Province. Flattened enclosures and earthen banks survive from the mountain castle. Since 2021 the site has been protected as a National Historic Site as part of the "Yuasa League fortified sites", together with the Fujinami fortified residence. In 2012, people bearing the Yuasa name from all over Japan erected a stele there in memory of the founder. It should not be confused with the keep-shaped building visible opposite the hill: this is a modern hot-spring establishment, one floor of which houses a museum devoted to the clan.