Kurono Castle

Gifu, Japan, Japan

---

Kurono Castle is a small, flatland castle ruin in the city of Gifu, Gifu Prefecture, Japan, built in 1597 by Katō Sadayasu during the late Sengoku period and supported by the Saitō, Oda, and Toyotomi clans.

It existed for only a short time, from 1597 until its demolition in 1610, as part of the Tokugawa shogunate’s policy to consolidate and reduce scattered castles after the establishment of the Edo regime, and it never became a major center of power. The castle was quite extensive for its short life, traditionally described as around 1,000 meters east to west and 800 meters north to south, with a central honmaru area and surrounding Bailey zones, and was constructed using stone stones reportedly provided by Toyotomi Hideyoshi for the foundation.

Today, no main keep or tower survives; the site is preserved as a public park with a stone marker indicating the former castle location, and visitors can still see the outlines of moats, earthen ramparts, and foundation stones that trace the original layout of the fortification. Although short-lived, Kurono Castle is a useful example of late-16th-century Japanese flatland castle design and of the rapid political consolidation that followed the transition from the Sengoku to the Edo period.