Kaminoyama Castle, also known as Tsukioka Castle, was a flat mountain castle located in present-day Kaminoyama City, Yamagata Prefecture.
It is currently located in Tsukioka Park, and its moat and stonewalls are designated as castle ruins by the city of Kaminoyama as a city-designated historic site.
- When was Kaminoyama Castle built? The castle was built by Yoshitada Takemae, who recaptured the land of Kaminoyama!
- Domain government offices were established during the Edo period! Famous castle maintained by the Toki clan!
- Access to Kaminoyama Castle
- Parking around Kaminoyama Castle
- Kaminoyama Castle Official Website
- Recommended around Kaminoyama Castle
When was Kaminoyama Castle built? The castle was built by Yoshitada Takemae, who recaptured the land of Kaminoyama!
Kaminoyama Castle was built in 1535 during the Warring States period by Yoshitada Takei (Kaminoyama), who retook the Kaminoyama area from the Date clan.
Originally, this Kaminoyama area had been in the territory of Takadate Castle (located on Mt. Kyokuzo about 1 km west of Kaminoyama Castle and owned by the Kaminoyama clan) since the Nanboku period (the Northern and Southern periods), but in 1508, Takadate Castle was defeated in an invasion by the Date clan.
In 1535, Yoshitada Takemae recaptured the castle from the Date clan and re-built it in its present location, which is now Kaminoyama Castle.
However, in 1580, Kaminoyama Castle was defeated by Mogami Yoshimitsu, lord of Yamagata Castle, who was known as Mogami Yoshimitsu.
Yoshimitsu Mogami is known as the man who revived the Mogami clan, which had been in decline, and was nicknamed “the leader of the Ou clan.
He is also famous as the uncle of Date Masamune, the “Dokuganryu of Oshu.
When Yoshimitsu Mogami invaded Kaminoyama Castle, he obtained the castle by turning on Satomi Yoshichika and his son Tamibe, vassals of the castle’s lord, Kaminoyama Mitsukane (grandson of Takemoe Yoshitada, who built the castle).
Thereafter, the castle became an important location as the southernmost fortress of the Mogami domain, where it fought for the unification of the Dewa province and against neighboring feudal lords.
Domain government offices were established during the Edo period! Famous castle maintained by the Toki clan!
In the Edo period (1603-1867), Kaminoyama Castle became the castle of the Yamagata Domain, which was headed by the Mogami clan. However, when the Mogami Disturbance occurred in 1622 (a riot in the Mogami family and the reexamination of the Mogami clan), the Yamagata Domain was divided.
At that time, the area that is now Kaminoyama City became the Kaminoyama Domain, and the Domain Office was located in Kaminoyama Castle.
Five families of 16 people served as domain lords until the Meiji Restoration, and during the reign of the Toki clan (2 generations, 1628-1691), Kaminoyama Castle and the castle town developed greatly.
With a three-story castle tower in the main circle and turreted gates at various locations, the castle was built in the modern era and was called the “famous castle of Hashu.
However, the castle keep was torn down when the Toki clan was transferred to another location. This is said to be because the shogunate was wary of the castle.
The current castle tower is a mock-up built in 1982 on the ruins of Ninomaru, with the interior used as a historical museum.
Access to Kaminoyama Castle
3-7 Motoshirouchi, Kaminoyama-shi, Yamagata 999-3154
10 minute walk from Kaminoyama Onsen Station on the JR Ou Main Line
Parking around Kaminoyama Castle
Kaminoyama Castle Official Website
Official Website:http://kaminoyama-castle.info/