Ōzu Castle

Architecture, patrimoine et histoire · Préfecture d'Ehime

Standing on a mound some forty metres high where the Kume River joins the Hiji, Ōzu Castle overlooks the small merchant town of the same name in western Ehime Prefecture. The site was fortified as early as the 14th century by the Utsunomiya family, governors of Iyo Province, under the name Jizōgatake Castle. At the end of the 16th century, after Toyotomi Hideyoshi subdued Shikoku, it was thoroughly remodelled: Tōdō Takatora laid out its plan from 1595, and Wakisaka Yasuharu, who arrived in 1609, completed the whole. The Katō clan then resided there until the end of the Edo period. The keep, left to decay after the Meiji Restoration, was demolished in 1888, but four original corner turrets (yagura) survived and are designated Important Cultural Properties. In 2004 the city had a four-storey keep rebuilt entirely in wood, using traditional techniques and based on old plans, models and photographs: it is one of the most faithful reconstructions in Japan. The castle is listed among Japan's 100 Fine Castles.