En un regard
Le château en bref
Iwao Castle (岩尾城, Iwao-jō) stands in the Naruse district of Saku, in Nagano Prefecture. This hirayama-jiro, or hilltop castle, occupies a terrace between two natural escarpments, above the confluence of the Chikuma and Yu rivers. It was founded in 1478 by Ōi Yukitoshi, and five generations of the Ōi family held it. Taken by the Takeda in 1543 and entrusted for a time to Sanada Yukitaka, it later returned to the Ōi, who had become vassals of the Takeda. In February 1583, Yoda Nobushige, an ally of Tokugawa Ieyasu, attacked it and died there together with his brother Nobuyuki; Ōi Yukiyoshi surrendered and set out for the Kantō, and the castle was abandoned. The site retains a trapezoidal main enclosure, two other enclosures, earthen embankments, a crescent-shaped moat (mikazuki-bori) and a cross-ditch to the west. A prefectural historic site since 27 May 1971, it belongs to several private owners; a shrine now occupies the site.