Site of Shinpu Castle

Nirasaki, Japan, Japan

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The Site of Shinpu Castle is the ruin of a late Sengoku-period hilltop Japanese castle on a cliff overlooking the Kamanashi River in the city of Nirasaki, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan.

Built in 1581 by Takeda Katsuyori, the last ruler of the Takeda clan, as his new main fortress to replace the earlier Tsutsujigasaki Castle in Kōfu, Shinpu was designed as a heavily defensible hirayama-style stronghold using the natural steep slopes of the plateau and sophisticated moat systems, including crescent and round earthworks. 

The castle ended abruptly after only 68 days: in March 1582, after a disastrous defeat against Oda Nobunaga’s army, Katsuyori set fire to Shinpu and fled, later dying at Mount Tenmokuzan, which effectively destroyed the Takeda clan; although the site was briefly reused by Tokugawa Ieyasu in later conflicts, the castle was abandoned and fell into ruin, leaving today only dry moats, earthen ramparts, and a few stone markers, with the former inner bailey occupied by Shinpu Fujitake Shrine and the grounds now open as Shinpu Park, a quiet nature walk accessible on a short walk from Shinpu Station on the JR Chūō Main Line.