- Type
- Castle
- Built
- c. 1590 · 16th century
- Site origins
- 1487 per Wikidata – an earlier stronghold or first mention
- Location
- Nagano Prefecture, Japan
- Commissioned by
- Takeda Shingen
- Architect
- Yamamoto Kansuke
- Visiting
- probably – Wikidata lists it as a museum or gives tickets, opening hours or visitor numbers; check before you go
- Coordinates
- 36.3273°, 138.4173°
History
The first stronghold on the site was built in 1487 by the Ōi clan. In the mid-16th century Takeda Shingen took the castle and had it enlarged – tradition credits the plan to his strategists Yamamoto Kansuke and Baba Nobuharu. After 1590 the lord of Komoro, Sengoku Hidehisa, rebuilt the fortress, enclosing it with stone walls and adding gates and a main keep. In the Edo period the castle changed hands often, and from 1702 until the Meiji Restoration it was held by the Makino clan. After 1871 the site was sold to the townspeople, who laid out a park here.
What to see
Kaikoen Park is entered through the Sannomon gate, and a little further on stands the two-storey Ōtemon gate of 1612 – both Important Cultural Properties. Among old trees survive the walls and the base of the main keep, and the edge of the cliff gives views over the Chikuma valley. The park also has a museum of the writer Shimazaki Tōson, a small zoo and many cherry trees that bloom in spring.
Wikipedia article Official website Wikidata Q1197137
Popularity: articles about this site in 14 Wikimedia projects (Wikipedia language editions and others).