Kindaichi Castle

Architecture, patrimoine et histoire · Préfecture d'Iwate

On a terrace on the left bank of the Mabechi River, in the Nakamachi district of Kindaichi in northern Ninohe, Kindaichi Castle (金田一城), also called Shinohe Castle (四戸城), is a medieval stronghold whose founding date and builder are both unknown. It consists of three adjoining enclosures, the Kamidate, the Nakadate and the Shimodate, separated by dry moats. The largest, the Kamidate, measures about 100 metres east to west and 250 metres north to south, and alone bears the name Shinohe Castle. Tradition holds that each of the three enclosures was held by a different lineage, among them the Shinohe and the Kindaichi; archaeological surveys list it among the medieval castles of the former Nukanobu district. The castle was abandoned in 1592, the twentieth year of the Tenshō era. No buildings survive, but moats, platforms and earthen ramparts can still be made out, and ceramics and porcelain from the late Middle Ages and the early modern period have been unearthed there, evidence of prolonged occupation.