, also known as Takatoya Castle and Suisho Castle, is a yamashiro (castle

Japanese castle

' were fortresses composed primarily of wood and stone. They evolved from the wooden stockades of earlier centuries, and came into their best-known form in the 16th century...

 located on a mountain) situated in Suwa

Suwa, Nagano

is a city located in Nagano, Japan.As of October 1, 2010, the city had an estimated population of 51,084 and a density of 468.40 persons per km². The total area of the city is 109.06 km²....

, Nagano Prefecture

Nagano Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of the island of Honshū. The capital is the city of Nagano.- History :Nagano was formerly known as the province of Shinano...

, 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...

. The castle was constructed sometime in the fifteenth century by the Kuwabara clan. By the time it came under the control of the Suwa clan

Suwa clan

The was a Japanese clan which claimed descent from the Seiwa Genji. It was a powerful clan of Shinano Province, particularly during the Sengoku period, when it had frequent clashes with its neighbor in Kai, the Takeda clan. The Suwa served as Takeda retainers for some time, and after the fall of...

, it had become a satellite castle to Uehara Castle. When forces of the Takeda clan arrived in the area in 1542, the lord of Uehara Castle, Suwa Yorishige

Suwa Yorishige

For the samurai by the same name who died in 1335, see Suwa Yorishige .' was a Japanese samurai....

, retreated to Kuwabara Castle, which was soon surrounded by Takeda soldiers. The castle fell after a two day siege

Siege of Kuwabara

The siege of Kuwabara took place the day after the siege of Uehara; Takeda Shingen continued to gain power in Shinano Province by seizing Kuwabara castle from Suwa Yorishige. Suwa was escorted back to the provincial capital of Kōfu under the pretext of safe conduct, but he was then forced to commit...

. Yorishige and his two brothers were taken to Kofu. A month later, they were forced to commit seppuku

Seppuku

is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. Seppuku was originally reserved only for samurai. Part of the samurai bushido honor code, seppuku was either used voluntarily by samurai to die with honor rather than fall into the hands of their enemies , or as a form of capital punishment...

.