is a hill castle located in Nisshin

Nisshin, Aichi

is a city located in Aichi Prefecture, Japan.As of July 1, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 83,120, with 32,471 households and a population density of 2,381.66 persons per km². Its total area is 34.90 km².The city was founded on October 1, 1994....

, Aichi Prefecture

Aichi Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region. The region of Aichi is also known as the Tōkai region. The capital is Nagoya. It is the focus of the Chūkyō Metropolitan Area.- History :...

, 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...

. It was built during the Sengoku period

Sengoku period

The or Warring States period in Japanese history was a time of social upheaval, political intrigue, and nearly constant military conflict that lasted roughly from the middle of the 15th century to the beginning of the 17th century. The name "Sengoku" was adopted by Japanese historians in reference...

 in Owari Province

Owari Province

was an old province of Japan that is now the western half of present day Aichi Prefecture, including much of modern Nagoya. Its abbreviation is Bishū .-History:The province was created in 646....

 and was a support castle to Shobata Castle (勝幡城 Shobata-jō).

History

In an attempt to protect his eastern borders, Oda Nobuhide

Oda Nobuhide

was a warlord and magistrate of lower Owari Province during the Sengoku period of Japan. His father was Oda Nobusada and Nobuhide was the father of Oda Nobunaga.-Ruling the clan:...

 built Iwasaki Castle in the early 16th century. The castle changed hands in 1529, when Matsudaira Kiyoyasu

Matsudaira Kiyoyasu

was the 7th lord over the Matsudaira clan during the Sengoku period of Japan. Kiyoyasu was the grandfather of the exceedingly famous unifier of Japan, Tokugawa Ieyasu. Kiyoyasu soon gained control of the whole of the northern region of Mikawa province after the Saigo clan had surrendered after...

 seized it and made the castle headquarters for the Matsudaira clan

Matsudaira clan

The was a Japanese samurai clan that claimed descent from the Minamoto clan. It first originated in and took its name from Matsudaira village, in Mikawa Province . Over the course of its history, the clan produced many branches, most of which also centered around Mikawa Province...

. Kiyoyasu's son, Matsudaira Hirotada

Matsudaira Hirotada

was the lord of Okazaki Castle in Mikawa province, Japan during the Sengoku Period of the 16th century. He is best known for being the father of Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate....

, moved his residence elsewhere after Kiyoyasu was assassinated in 1535 by one of his retainers, Abe Masatoyo. Niwa Ujikiyo was placed in control of the castle and his descendents continued to rule out of it until Battle of Iwasaki Castle in 1584. The Battle of Iwasaki was part of the larger Battle of Komaki and Nagakute

Battle of Komaki and Nagakute

The consisted of two battles in 1584 between the forces of Hashiba Hideyoshi and the forces of Oda Nobukatsu and Tokugawa Ieyasu. Hideyoshi and Ieyasu had both served Oda Nobunaga and had not previously come into conflict; this would in fact be their only period of enmity...

, and during the battle the castle was besieged and taken by the Toyotomi clan

Toyotomi clan

Originating in Owari Province, the served as retainers to the Oda clan throughout 16th-century Japan's Sengoku period. -Unity and Conflict:The most influential figure within the Toyotomi was Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of the three "unifiers of Japan." Oda Nobunaga was another primary unifier and the...

's forces led by Ikeda Tsuneoki

Ikeda Tsuneoki

, also known as Ikeda Nobuteru , was a daimyo and military commander during the Sengoku period and Azuchi-Momoyama period of the 16th century of Japan. He was a retainer of the famous warlords Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. His father was Ikeda Toshitsune, who served Oda Nobuhide...

. The garrison, led by Niwa Ujitsugu, suffered numerous casualties including 300 killed, Ujitsugu's brother Niwa Ujishige being among the dead. The castle was abandoned and destroyed after 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...

 in 1600.

Today

The castle is now located in a two-hectare park. Parts of the castle lie in ruins, including the remains of a well and a turret (yagura

Yagura

Yagura is the Japanese word for "tower" or "turret." The word is most often seen in reference to structures within Japanese castle compounds, but can be used in a variety of other situations as well. The bandstand tower erected for Bon Festival is often called a yagura, as are similar structures...

) which were discovered during archeological digs. The keep, or tenshu, was reconstructed in 1987 out of concrete and holds a museum about the history of the castle.