was a

Japanese castle are fortresses constructed primarily of wood and stone. They evolved from the wooden stockades of earlier centuries and came into their best-known form in the 16th century. Castles in Japan were built to guard important or strategic sites, such a ...

in what is now Tsuchizaki Minato, Akita,

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 estimated 915,691 as of 1 August 2023 and its geographi ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Throughout the

Muromachi period The , also known as the , is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( or ), which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi ...

, Minato Castle was home to the Ando clan, ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

'' of

Akita Domain was a Han (Japan), feudal domain in Edo period Japan, located in Dewa Province (modern-day Akita Prefecture), Japan. It was centered on Kubota Castle in what is now the city of Akita, Akita, Akita and was thus also known as the . It was governe ...

, rulers of northern

Dewa Province was a province of Japan comprising modern-day Yamagata Prefecture and Akita Prefecture, except for the city of Kazuno and the town of Kosaka. Dewa bordered on Mutsu and Echigō Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . History Early per ...

History

The early history of the castle is shrouded but it might have been constructed by the second of the Minato branch of the Ando family, Ando Yasusue, in

1436 Year 1436 ( MCDXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events January–March * January 11 – Eric of Pomerania is deposed from the Swedish throne for the second time, only three months after having been ...

. Ando "Big Dipper" Chikasue of the Hiyama Ando went down from Hiyama Castle to Minato Castle uniting the two clan branches. After the

Battle of Sekigahara The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was an important battle in Japan which occurred on October 21, 1600 (Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu Prefecture, ...

, his son,

Akita Sanesue was a Japanese daimyo who lived during the Azuchi–Momoyama period, Azuchi–Momoyama and early Edo periods. Biography He was the son of daimyo Andō Chikasue, a powerful figure in Dewa Province. Sanesue pledged loyalty to Toyotomi Hideyosh ...

was moved to Shishido, in

Hitachi Province was an old provinces of Japan, old province of Japan in the area of Ibaraki Prefecture.Louis Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Hitachi fudoki''" in . It was sometimes called . Hitachi Province bordered on Shimōsa Province, S ...

, and

Satake Yoshinobu was a ''daimyō'' in Sengoku period and early Edo period Japan under the Tokugawa shogunate and the 19th head of the Satake clan and 1st ''daimyō'' of Kubota Domain in Dewa Province. His courtesy title was '' Sakon-no-e-shōshō'', later '' ...

of Hitachi was relegated to Minato Castle in

1602 Events January–March * January 3 – Battle of Kinsale: The English defeat Irish rebels and their Spanish allies. (The battle happens on this date according to the Gregorian calendar used by the Irish and Spanish but on Thursday, 24 Dece ...

. Satake began to build the new Kubota Castle and Minato Castle was abandoned in

1604 Events January–March * January 1 – The earliest recorded performance of William Shakespeare's play ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' takes place at Hampton Court prior to the main presentation, ''The Masque of Indian and China K ...

Access

The exit station is Tsuchizaki Station (north next of

Akita Station is a junction railway station in the city of Akita (city), Akita, Akita Prefecture, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). Lines Akita Station is the northern terminus of the Akita Shinkansen, and is 127.3 kilometers from and ...

). 2-minute walk straight from the exit of the station and you can soon see Tsuchizaki Shinmeisha Shrine on your left.

Notes

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History

Access

Notes

See also