is a ruined flatland castle located in Gobuichi, Echizen

Echizen, Fukui

is a city in Fukui, Japan.Echizen took its present form on October 1, 2005, when the city of Takefu and the town of Imadate merged to form the new city, although the Echizen Basin has been an important regional center for over 1,500 years. It has many former castle sites and prehistoric...

, 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...

.

History

Komaru Castle was established in 1575 (Tenshō 3) by Sassa Narimasa

Sassa Narimasa

, also known as Kura-no-suke , was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku through Azuchi-Momoyama period. He became a retainer of Oda Nobunaga in 1550 and was granted Etchū Province as a reward for helping Shibata Katsuie fight the Uesugi clan. After Nobunaga's death, in 1584 he joined Tokugawa Ieyasu...

, one of Oda Nobunaga's

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...

 generals and one of the Fuchū Three. Along with Maeda Toshiie and Fuwa Mitsukaru, Narimasa was charged with keeping the peace and suppressing the Ikkō-ikki

Ikko-ikki

', literally "Ikkoshū Uprising", were mobs of peasant farmers, Buddhist monks, Shinto priests and local nobles, who rose up against samurai rule in 15th to 16th century Japan. They followed the beliefs of the Jōdo Shinshū sect of Buddhism which taught that all believers are equally saved by Amida...

 in Echizen Province

Echizen Province

was an old province of Japan, which is today the northern part of Fukui Prefecture. It was sometimes called , with Etchū and Echigo Provinces.Echizen is famous for washi . A text dated AD 774 mentions the washi made in this area. Echizen-produced Washi is still the most commonly sold traditional...

. In 1581, Sassa Narimasa was relocated to Etchū Province

Etchu Province

was an old province in central Honshū, on the Sea of Japan side. It was sometimes called , with Echizen and Echigo Provinces. It bordered Echigo, Shinano, Hida, Kaga, and Noto provinces...

 (current Toyama Prefecture

Toyama Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Hokuriku region on Honshū island. The capital is the city of Toyama.Toyama is the leading industrial prefecture on the Japan Sea coast, and has the industrial advantage of cheap electricity due to abundant water resources....

), after which the unfinished castle was abandoned.

The earthen foundations, part of the gate to the honmaru, the remains of the dry moat, a tower foundation, and a memorial stone can still be seen at the site.

During excavations in 1932, some fragments of roof tiles on which stories about Maeda Toshiie's suppression of the Ikkō-ikki revolts were written were discovered at the site.