, also known as ''Asakura Castle'' and ''Ryugasaki Castle'', was a mountaintop
castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
(''yamashiro'') located in
Kakunodate,
Akita Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Provinces and prefectures" in ; "Tōhoku" in . Its population is approximately 966,000 (as of 1 October 2019) and its ge ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. Its roots can be traced to when Moriyasu Tozawa was given the area in 1590, though it may have been constructed prior to this. Due to a Shogunal decree that each domain was to retain only one castle, it was demolished in 1620. Only ruins remain at the site on Mount Furushiro.
History
The Kakunodate palace flourished as a Samurai town in the early 17th century and is often referred to as "Little Kyoto". Although the castle no longer survived, its legacy can be seen in the well-preserved samurai houses, many of which are centuries old.
Location
To the north of Kakunodate's samurai district the former castle site is located on the hill. From the samurai district It can be reached on foot in about 20-30 minutes.
Further reading
*
References
Sources
* https://web.archive.org/web/20080313191125/http://www.jcastle.info/castle/profile/15-Kakunodate-Castle
* http://www.city.semboku.akita.jp/en/sightseeing/spot/07_shiroato.html
{{coord, 39, 36, 17, N, 140, 33, 39, E, region:JP_type:landmark_source:kolossus-jawiki, display=title
Castles in Akita Prefecture