Wakuya Castle

En un regard

Le château en bref

Wakuya Castle (涌谷城) occupied the tip of a spur of the Nonodake hills on the edge of the Ōsaki plain, in the town of Wakuya in north-central Miyagi Prefecture. Set at about twenty metres above sea level, the castle platform was protected to the west and south by the Eai River flowing at its foot. The site first belonged to the Wakuya family, retainers of the Ōsaki, before passing, after Toyotomi Hideyoshi's unification, to the Kimura and then to the Date clan. It then became the residence of the Watari line, retainers of the Date, whose successive lords strengthened its defences; Date Sadamune was granted the right to bear the Date name, founding the Wakuya Date branch, closely involved in the famous succession dispute of the Sendai domain. The site is now Shiroyama Park, renowned for its cherry trees. It retains a corner turret, the Taiko-dō, rebuilt in 1833, as well as a municipal museum presenting the collections of the Wakuya Date and local history.