is a 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 in Takasaki

Takasaki, Gunma

is a city located in Gunma Prefecture, Japan.The city was founded on April 1, 1900.Takasaki is a regional transportation hub because its train station is the junction of several rail lines as well as a Shinkansen stop....

, Gunma Prefecture

Gunma Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the northwest corner of the Kantō region on Honshu island. Its capital is Maebashi.- History :The remains of a Paleolithic man were found at Iwajuku, Gunma Prefecture, in the early 20th century and there is a public museum there.Japan was without horses until...

, 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

Minowa Castle was built in 1526 by Nagano Narimasa from the Nagano clan (themselves retainers of the Uesugi clan

Uesugi clan

The was a Japanese samurai clan, descended from the Fujiwara clan and particularly notable for their power in the Muromachi and Sengoku periods ....

) based out of Nagano in Kozuke Province

Kozuke Province

was an old province located in the Tōsandō of Japan, which today comprises Gunma Prefecture. It is nicknamed as or .The ancient provincial capital was near modern Maebashi. During the Sengoku period, Kōzuke was controlled variously by Takeda Shingen, Uesugi Kenshin, the late Hōjō clan, and...

. In 1566 the castle's garrison, led by Nagano Narimori (lord of the castle since Narimasa, his father, had died in 1561) and Kamiizumi Nobutsuna

Kamiizumi Nobutsuna

Kamiizumi Ise-no-kami Fujiwara-no-Nobutsuna was a samurai in Japan’s Sengoku Period famous for creating the Shinkage-ryū school of combat.-Early life:...

, came under attack by forces of the Takeda clan under control of Takeda Shingen

Takeda Shingen

, of Kai Province, was a preeminent daimyo in feudal Japan with exceptional military prestige in the late stage of the Sengoku period.-Name:Shingen was called "Tarō" or "Katsuchiyo" during his childhood...

 during the Siege of Minowa

Siege of Minowa

The 1566 siege of Minowa was one of several battles fought by the Takeda clan in their campaigns to seize the lands of the Uesugi clan, during Japan's Sengoku period...

. During the siege, a sortie out of the castle was led by Nobutsuna, this, however, resulted in a successful assault by the Shingen forces. The entire castle fell, save a small portion still held by Nobutsuna. Shingen was so impressed by Nobutsuna that he let Nobutsuna leave unharmed, even asking Nobutsuna to join him (Nobutsuna declined). Shingen gave one of his generals, Naito Masatoyo

Naito Masatoyo

' also known as was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku period. As one of Takeda Shingen's most reliable generals, he fought in many of the Takeda clan's battles. Masatoyo was the second son of Takeda Nobutora's senior retainer, Kudō Toratoyo. He was first called Kudō Sukenaga...

, control of the castle.

After the siege, the castle was held by the Takeda clan, the Oda clan

Oda clan

The was a family of Japanese daimyo who were to become an important political force in the unification of Japan in the mid-16th century. Though they had the climax of their fame under Oda Nobunaga and fell from the spotlight soon after, several branches of the family would continue on as daimyo...

, and the Hojo clan

Hojo clan

See the late Hōjō clan for the Hōjō clan of the Sengoku Period.The in the history of Japan was a family who controlled the hereditary title of shikken of the Kamakura Shogunate. In practice, the family had actual governmental power, many times dictatorial, rather than Kamakura shoguns, or the...

. In 1590, Ii Naomasa

Ii Naomasa

was a general under the Sengoku period Daimyo, and later Shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu. He is regarded as one of the Four Guardians of the Tokugawa along with Honda Tadakatsu, Sakakibara Yasumasa and Sakai Tadatsugu.-Early life:...

 of the Ii clan

Ii clan

The ' is a Japanese clan which originates in Tōtōmi Province. It was a retainer clan of the Imagawa family, and then switched sides to the Matsudaira clan of Mikawa Province. A famed 16th century clan member, Ii Naomasa, served as one of Tokugawa Ieyasu's generals, and received the fief of Hikone...

 became lord. He held this post for only eight years until 1598, when he moved to Takasaki Castle. Minowa Castle was abandoned.

Today

All that remains of Minowa Castle currently are the ruins of the stone walls, earthworks, and moats. The site is unusual, though, due to its large size, as it occupies forty-seven hectares (116 acres), making it one of the largest castle sites in Gunma Prefecture.