Iwasaki Castle (Owari Province)



Iwasaki Castle (岩崎城) is a hill castle (平山城 hirayamajiro) located in Nisshin, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It was built during the Sengoku period in Owari Province and was a support castle to Shobata Castle (勝幡城 Shobata-jō).

History
In an attempt to protect his eastern borders, Oda Nobuhide built Iwasaki Castle in the early 16th century. The castle changed hands in 1529, when Matsudaira Kiyoyasu seized it and made the castle headquarters for the Matsudaira clan. Kiyoyasu's son, Matsudaira Hirotada, moved his residence elsewhere after Kiyoyasu was assassinated in 1535 by one of his retainers, Abe Masatoyo. Niwa Ujikiyo was placed in control of the castle and his descendents continued to rule out of it until Battle of Iwasaki Castle in 1584. The Battle of Iwasaki was part of the larger Battle of Komaki and Nagakute, and during the battle the castle was besieged and taken by the Toyotomi clan's forces led by Ikeda Tsuneoki. The garrison, led by Niwa Ujitsugu, suffered numerous casualties including 300 killed, Ujitsugu's brother Niwa Ujishige being among the dead. The castle was abandoned and destroyed after the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600.

Today
The castle is now located in a two-hectare park. Parts of the castle lie in ruins, including the remains of a well and a turret (yagura) which were discovered during archeological digs. The keep, or tenshu, was reconstructed in 1987 out of concrete and holds a museum about the history of the castle.