In 1440, Japan was in the Muromachi Period, the early phase of the violent Sengoku, or Warring States period, marked by frequent localized wars. To control territories, many castles were built. One local warrior capitalized on the strategically situated 85-meter-high Inuyama Hill, surrounded by the natural moat of the Kiso River, offering clear views of the Nobi Plain and the ancient lands of Owari (Western Aichi) and Mino (Gifu).
Almost a century later, in 1537, Oda Nobuyasu, grandfather of the great Oda Nobunaga, took the hill and fortress, also known as Hakutei Castle. Recognizing its strategic importance, the Oda clan constructed a larger, sturdier, and more elegant castle. This became the first castle owned outright by Oda Nobunaga, although he left his uncle as a caretaker while he engaged in further battles.
Inuyama Castle, classified as a Hirayama-jiro, is the oldest of Japan's 12 remaining original castles. Located in Aichi Prefecture, it may seem small compared to others like Nagoya or Osaka castles. Its stone walls stand just five meters high, with the tower itself a mere 19 meters on top of that. The total floor space of the defensive tower structure is around 699 square meters, comparable to Hikone Castle, which is quite large for its time.
Today, only the keep, the main watchtower, remains. The lord's living quarters once occupied the wide flat area along the lower slopes of the mountain, which was fortified with turrets, barracks, walled corridors, and related buildings. Inuyama had nine yagura watchtowers around its perimeter and two main gates, with six smaller gates protecting the Honmaru.
Unlike most castles that name their precincts Honmaru, Ni-no-Maru, San-no-Maru, etc., Inuyama Castle's five baileys were named after trees, with the Honmaru at the top, and the lower slopes consisting of the Sumi, Momi, Kiri, and Matsu kuruwa.
The castle's architectural beauty is evident both inside and out. The tower is a four-story Borogata-type keep, with entry via the smallest anakura (basement) of all the castles in Japan. Steep stairs, built to save space and hinder armored invaders, lead to the spacious first floor.
The keep appears to be square, yet the northeastern corner features the widest open angle of any keep in Japan, providing better views and increased firing range along the eastern flank. The first floor is divided into several rooms, including the Jodan-no-Ma, the lord's official audience chamber, which is rare to find in a tower keep. This room features hidden doors in the wall, behind which the lord's bodyguards or a private retreat could be found.
Wide corridors called Musha-Bashiri (warrior running corridors) around these central rooms allowed defenders ample space to move during an attack. The first-floor Musha-Bashiri has six places where sliding doors once stood, reflecting an old style seen in Oda Nobunaga's Azuchi and Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Osaka Castles. However, these doors would hinder warriors' movements, preventing them from running around the central area.
Climbing to the second floor, you find the armory where weapons and armor were stored. The third story features wide outer corridors for warriors, especially archers, to move freely. Above that, small balconies under triangular eaves (hafu) provide fine views of the river and mountains and serve as firing positions. The fourth floor is a wide chamber with a low balcony offering spectacular views of the surrounding area.
The mid-section karahafu decorative curved roofing element and extended yagura watchtower were added during the Naruse years.
Inuyama Castle saw significant action, notably during the Battle of Komaki-Nagakute in 1584 when Toyotomi Hideyoshi used it as a base against Tokugawa Ieyasu. In 1600, it was threatened during the Battle of Sekigahara. The night before the battle, daimyo Takenaka Shigekado defected to the Eastern forces, and Ishikawa Sadakiyo, the lord of Inuyama, made a secret deal with the Eastern forces, securing the castle's future.
After a succession of lords, Naruse Masanori took control in 1617, and the castle remained in the Naruse family for generations. In 1871, after the feudal system ended, many of the castle's outer walls and buildings were destroyed. The main keep survived but was damaged in the 1890 Great Nobi Earthquake. The former Lord Naruse undertook repairs, and in 1935, Inuyama Castle was designated a National Treasure. It remained in the Naruse family's care until 2004 when it was handed over to Inuyama City and a new overseeing foundation.
Inuyama Castle is a fine example of 16th-century castle architecture and a treasured symbol of Inuyama City.
See also
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Kaminoyama Castle
Kamino-yama Castle stood at the center of an important logistics hub, in the middle of the Yonezawa Plain, which served as the gateway to the western part of the Tohoku region. Roads connecting the Aizu, Fukushima, and Yamagata areas intersected here.
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Imabari Castle
Tōdō Takatora (1556–1630) served at different times as a vassal of several famous clans—Azai, Oda, Toyotomi, and Tokugawa. He took part in the Battle of Anegawa (1570), the Battle of Shizugatake (1583), the invasions of Kyushu and Korea, the Sekigahara campaign (1600), and the Siege of Osaka (1614–1615).
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Iwakuni Castle
Kikkawa Hiroie (1561–1625) was the grandson of the famous daimyo Mori Motonari and a vassal of the Mori clan. Under Mori Terumoto, he fought in both Korean campaigns and took part in the defense of Ulsan Castle. During the Battle of Sekigahara, Hiroie stood with his 3,000-man force on the side of the Western Coalition; however, even before the battle began, he sent Tokugawa Ieyasu a secret message stating that he did not intend to fight Tokugawa’s troops. As a result of his inaction, 15,000 soldiers under Mori Hidemoto were also unable to enter the battle, since Hiroie blocked their path.
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Gujo Hachiman Castle
Gujo Hachiman Castle is located on 350-meter Mount Hachiman, near the confluence of the Yoshidagawa and Kodaragava rivers, and not far from the Nagaragawa River. During the Sengoku period, this area was of great strategic importance: it stood at a key crossroads of routes connecting Mino Province in the south with the Sea of Japan in the north, and Hida Province in the east with Echizen Province in the west.
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Amagasaki Castle
The founding year of Amagasaki Castle is traditionally considered to be 1617, when Toda Ujikané built his castle here, making it the administrative center of the Amagasaki Domain. However, as early as the Sengoku period, a fortress built by the Hosokawa clan already stood on this site. After the fall of Itami Castle in 1579, Araki Murashige—formerly a vassal of Oda Nobunaga who had rebelled against him—fled to this earlier castle.
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Hiroshima Castle
Mōri Terumoto (1553–1625) was the grandson and rightful heir of the renowned Mōri Motonari. When Terumoto became the head of the Mōri clan in 1571, he inherited vast territories covering a large part of the San’in and San’yō regions in western Honshū. In addition, the Mōri clan possessed the largest and most technologically advanced naval fleet of its time.
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Fukuyama Castle
After the defeat of Toyotomi Hideyori’s supporters in the Osaka Campaigns of 1614–1615, many clans in Japan still remained not fully loyal to the Tokugawa shogunate, especially in the western Chūgoku region. Mizuno Katsunari (1564–1651), a cousin of Tokugawa Ieyasu, became the first of the Tokugawa house’s close retainers, the so-called fudai daimyō, to be relocated to this strategically important area.
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Tiba Castle
The founder of the Chiba clan is considered to be Chiba Tsunesige (1083–1180), who in 1126 moved his residence to the Inohana area and built a strongly fortified stronghold there. Although Tsunesige himself came from the Taira clan, the Chiba clan later supported Minamoto no Yoritomo, the future founder of the first shogunate.
