Ueda Castle in Nagano Prefecture once stood prominently on a cliff overlooking the Saigawa River. Also known as Amagafuchi-Jo, Isesaki-Jo, Matsuo-Jo, and Sanada-Jo, it was built around 1583 by its first master, Sanada Masayuki. This sturdy yet small fortress cleverly utilized the surrounding natural defenses, including the river, steep rocky cliffs, the layout of the town below, and the strategically designed waterways to hinder attackers. Ueda Castle was fortified with seven defensive yagura (watchtowers) atop robust stone walls and had two large gates with watchtowers above them.
Ueda Castle is renowned for having repelled the powerful Tokugawa clan twice. The first siege occurred from August to December 1585 when 7,000 Tokugawa troops faced 2,000 Sanada defenders. The second defense was in 1600, just before the Battle of Sekigahara, where 2,500 Sanada samurai held off 38,000 Tokugawa warriors led by Tokugawa Hidetada.
In the Battle of Kami River, Sanada Masayuki lured the Tokugawa attackers close to the castle before ambushing them with a reserve army. The Tokugawa forces, confused and unable to recover, hastily retreated. Support from the powerful Uesugi clan of Echigo further deterred the Tokugawa, solidifying Sanada Masayuki's reputation. In 1600, Hidetada's siege delayed his arrival at Sekigahara, causing his father, Tokugawa Ieyasu, great frustration as Hidetada arrived hours after the battle had ended.
Following the Battle of Sekigahara, Sanada Masayuki and his son, Yukimura (Nobushige), were exiled to a temple on Mount Koya. Tokugawa Ieyasu gave Ueda Castle to Sanada Nobuyuki but ordered its destruction. Nobuyuki complied after moving to nearby Matsushiro Castle. In 1622, daimyo Sengoku Tadamasa began rebuilding Ueda Castle, restoring the moats and the central Honmaru and Ni-no-Maru baileys. Although the seven yagura watchtowers and two main gates were completed, further construction ceased upon Sengoku's death. The current three yagura date from Sengoku Tadamasa’s period. The Sengoku clan ruled the castle from 1622 to 1706, followed by the Matsudaira (Fujii) clan until 1872.
In 1871, Ueda Castle was abandoned, and three years later, its grounds and remaining structures were auctioned off. The Nishi Yagura watchtower remained, while the North and South Yagura were dismantled, moved to the outskirts of town, and used as a brothel. Later sold to a restaurant in Tokyo, these two yagura were eventually bought by Ueda citizens and returned to the castle's stone walls in 1949. The fate of the remaining four original watchtowers is unknown.
In 1927 and during later excavations, it was discovered that Ueda Castle's roof tiles were gilded in gold. Evidence of golden shachihoko (tiger-fish roof ornaments) was also found. Gilded roof tiles were common in larger castles like Oda Nobunaga’s Azuchi Castle and Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s Fushimi and Osaka Castles, but rare for a smaller castle like Ueda.
In 1994, the main Yagura-Mon gate was reconstructed, 110 years after the original was dismantled. Near the gate is the Sanada Ishi, a massive rock measuring 2.5 x 3 meters, built into the stone rampart. Such large rocks were a display of the lord’s power and wealth. A well by the Sanada Shrine within the castle grounds is believed to have been a secret tunnel leading out to the north of the castle.
From 1929, the West Yagura served as a museum featuring the Matsudaira family treasures, including weapons, armor, and manuscripts. The Ni-no-Maru now houses the Ueno City Museum, displaying an impressive collection of samurai armor and weapons. Ueda High School stands on the site of the Honmaru Goten palace, with the moats and gate now serving the school.
Nagano Prefecture’s Ueda Castle, though small, holds significant historical importance and remains one of the most popular samurai castles to visit.
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.
