was a hirashiro. Its remains are located in current-day Fukui

Fukui, Fukui

is the capital of Fukui Prefecture, Japan. The city is located in the north-central part of the prefecture on the coast of the Sea of Japan.-Demographics:...

, Fukui Prefecture

Fukui Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region on Honshū island. The capital is the city of Fukui.- Prehistory :The Kitadani Dinosaur Quarry, on the Sugiyama River within the city limits of Katsuyama, has yielded the Fukuiraptor kitadaniensis and Fukuisaurus tetoriensis as well as an unnamed...

, 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...

. As the castle lasted merely eight years, few records survive about it. It is known, though that it was built by Shibata Katsuie

Shibata Katsuie

or was a Japanese military commander during the Sengoku Period who served Oda Nobunaga.-Biography:Katsuie was born in the Shibata family, a branch of the Shiba clan . Note the differences between , , and the .Katsuie was the retainer of Oda Nobukatsu...

 in 1575. Also, it appears that the tenshu (keep) was nine stories high, making it the largest of the time.

The castle was destroyed in 1583, when Katsuie and his wife, Oichi

Oichi

or a female historical figure in the late Sengoku period. She is known primarily as the mother of three daughters who married well -- Yodo-dono, Ohatsu and Oeyo....

, perished in a fire that Katsuie had started after he had lost the Battle of Shizugatake

Battle of Shizugatake

The was a battle in Sengoku period Japan between supporters of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Oda Nobutaka.In May, 1583, a former general of Nobunaga's named Shibata Katsuie coordinated a number of simultaneous attacks on Shizugatake, a series of forts held by Hideyoshi's generals among whom was Nakagawa...

and retreated here. A few stone foundations of the castle were uncovered in archaeological digs and are now open to the public.