Kakunodate Castle

Architecture, patrimoine et histoire · Préfecture d'Akita

On the heights of Mount Furushiro, north of Kakunodate's famous samurai district, stood a mountain castle also known as Komatsuyama. According to the Tozawa genealogy, the clan settled here in 1424, leaving Kadoya Castle after forcing the local lord, Kakunodate Noto-no-kami, to surrender. During the Sengoku period the Tozawa strengthened their hold over Kitaura District by absorbing several neighbouring families; Tozawa Moriyasu, nicknamed "Oni Kurō", remains the most prominent figure of the line. After the Battle of Sekigahara the Tozawa left the region in 1602 and Ashina Yoshihiro took over the fortress; it was he who laid out, at the foot of the hill, the town plan that still shapes present-day Kakunodate. The edict limiting each domain to a single castle led to the site's abandonment in 1620, the lords thereafter residing below. The Satake, who arrived in 1656, then governed the town until the Meiji era. Only ruins remain on the hill, which can be reached on foot from the historic district.