Arioka Castle Ruins

Itami, Japan, Japan

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Arioka Castle Ruins, also known as Itami Castle Ruins, are the remains of a major Muromachi-period castle located in the city of Itami, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, just in front of modern Itami Station along the Ina River.

The site was originally built in the Nanboku-chō period by the Itami samurai clan and later extensively remodeled and renamed Arioka Castle in 1574 by Araki Murashige, who made it one of the largest and most strongly fortified castles in the region, using a “sogamae” design that integrated the castle town into the defensive system with moats, earthen ramparts, and natural rivers.

In 1579, the castle famously resisted Oda Nobunaga’s forces for about a year during the Siege of Itami, until it was finally captured through tunneling and later abandoned in 1583 after being awarded to Ikeda Motosuke, who moved his domain to Mino Province. Today, the ruins are protected as a National Historic Site since 1979.