Miharu Castle

Architecture, patrimoine et histoire · Préfecture de Fukushima

Perched on Shiroyama hill at an altitude of 407 metres, Miharu Castle overlooks the small town of the same name in the heart of Fukushima Prefecture. Nicknamed Maizuru-jō, "the castle of the dancing crane", it was founded around 1504 by Tamura Yoshiaki, who moved his clan's seat there from Moriyama Castle. For nearly a century, the fortress was the centre of power of the Tamura, local lords caught between the mighty Date and Ashina. It was here that Megohime was born, the only daughter of Tamura Kiyoaki, who married Date Masamune and sealed the alliance between the two houses. After the Tamura fell from grace in 1590, the site passed in turn to the Gamō, the Uesugi, the Katō and the Matsushita, before being entrusted in 1645 to the Akita clan, which held it until the end of the Edo period. Originally a mountain fortress, the castle was adapted into a hill castle, with the lord's residence moved to the foot of the hill. Dismantled in 1871, it survives today only as earthworks and terraces within Shiroyama Park, renowned for its cherry trees and its views over the Abukuma Mountains.