is a yamashiro, or mountain castle, located on Hachiman Mountain in Gujō

Gujo, Gifu

is a city in Gifu Prefecture, Japan.As of July 2011, the city has an estimated population of 43,960. The total area is 1,030.79 km².-History:...

, Gifu Prefecture

Gifu Prefecture

is a prefecture located in the Chūbu region of central Japan. Its capital is the city of Gifu.Located in the center of Japan, it has long played an important part as the crossroads of Japan, connecting the east to the west through such routes as the Nakasendō...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

.

History

Gujō Hachiman Castle was built in 1559 by Endō Morikazu (遠藤盛数). Morikazu had barely finished the castle when he died, leaving it to his son Endō Yoshitaka. Yoshitaka later became a retainer to Oda Nobunaga

Oda Nobunaga

was the initiator of the unification of Japan under the shogunate in the late 16th century, which ruled Japan until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was also a major daimyo during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. His opus was continued, completed and finalized by his successors Toyotomi...

 and the direct control of the castle fell into the hands of Inaba Sadamichi, who renovated much of the castle. Yoshitaka returned to rule the castle following the Battle of Sekigahara

Battle of Sekigahara

The , popularly known as the , was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 which cleared the path to the Shogunate for Tokugawa Ieyasu...

. The castle was expanded following Tsunetomo's appointment to the castle in 1646. In 1870, during the Meiji Restoration, the castle was torn down during Japan's attempts to modernize. In 1933, it was reconstructed out of wood.

External links

• Gifu Tour Guide - Historic Sites - Gujō Hachiman (Gifu Prefecture Tourist Federation)
• Gujō Hachiman Castle (Guide to Japanese Castles)