Kitanosho Castle Ruins

Fukui, Japan, Japan

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Kitanosho Castle Ruins are the remains of a famous flatland castle built in 1575 by the warlord Shibata Katsuie on the site of what is now central Fukui City in Fukui Prefecture, Japan.

Originally described in historical records as having a nine-story keep that surpassed even Oda Nobunaga’s Azuchi Castle, it became known as one of Japan’s greatest “phantom castles” because it lasted only about eight years before being destroyed in 1583 after Katsuie’s defeat by Toyotomi Hideyoshi at the Battle of Shizugatake; Katsuie and his wife, Oichi (the sister of Oda Nobunaga), set fire to the castle and died inside.

Today the site is preserved as Kitanosho Castle Ruins Park (often called Shibata Park) adjacent to Shibata Shrine, where visitors can walk over excavated stone foundations, moat and rampart traces, and a small museum that explains the castle’s history and Shibata Katsuie’s role in the Sengoku period, while the shrine enshrines Katsuie and Oichi and honors Katsuie’s three daughters, who later became the consorts of powerful leaders.

Because the later Edo-period Fukui Castle was built partly over the ruins of Kitanosho, the remains are relatively modest, but the site is still important for its dramatic story, its connection to key figures of the late 16th century, and its convenient location just a short walk from JR Fukui Station.