was a 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...

 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 eastern Mikawa Province

Mikawa Province

is an old province in the area that today forms the eastern half of Aichi Prefecture. It was sometimes called . Mikawa bordered on Owari, Mino, Shinano, and Tōtōmi Provinces....

 in what is today part of the city of Shinshiro

Shinshiro, Aichi

is a city located in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. As of February 2011, the city had an estimated population of 49,731 and the population density of 99.7 persons per km². The total area was 499.00 km².-Geography:...

, 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.

A fortified residence was constructed on this site by Suganuma Sadanori in 1508. The Suganuma clan were a subordination branch of the Okudaira 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...

, who ruled most of Mikawa Province. The castle was seized by the Imagawa clan

Imagawa clan

The was a Japanese clan that claimed descent from Emperor Seiwa . It was a branch of the Minamoto clan by the Ashikaga clan.-Origins:Ashikaga Kuniuji, grandson of Ashikaga Yoshiuji, established himself in the 13th century at Imagawa and took its name.Imagawa Norikuni received from his cousin the...

 in 1560, shortly before their defeat at the Battle of Okehazama

Battle of Okehazama

The took place in June 1560. In this battle, Oda Nobunaga defeated Imagawa Yoshimoto and established himself as one of the front-running warlords in the Sengoku period.-Background:...

 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....

. Suganuma Sadamitsu recovered the castle in a night battle in 1562. However, in 1571, a reconnaissance-in-force by the Takeda clan, led by Yamagata Masakage

Yamagata Masakage

was one of the 24 generals of the Takeda clan. He was famous for his red armour and skill in battlefield, and was a personal friend of Takeda Shingen. He was the younger brother of Obu Toramasa who was also a retainer of Shingen leading the famous "red fire unit"...

 took the castle and held it briefly with little difficulty. When the armies of the Takeda clan, led by 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...

 invaded Mikawa Province in 1573, the Takeda clan attempted to seize Noda Castle once again. However, in the past couple of years, the castle defenses had been increased by Suganuma Sadamichi

Suganuma Sadamichi

' was a samurai commander in Japan's Sengoku period. He fought in the 1570 battle of Anegawa, and at the 1573 siege of Noda, in which he attempted to defend Noda castle against Takeda Shingen....

, and the castle held out for several weeks, only reaching the point of surrender after Takeda sapper

Sapper

A sapper, pioneer or combat engineer is a combatant soldier who performs a wide variety of combat engineering duties, typically including, but not limited to, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, demolitions, field defences, general construction and building, as well as road and airfield...

s tunneled into the moats, draining them of water. During this Siege of Noda Castle, Takeda Shingen was wounded by a sniper's bullet, possibly fatally as he died only a few weeks later.

Noda Castle was abandoned around 1590, after Tokugawa Ieyasu

Tokugawa Ieyasu

 was the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan , which ruled from the Battle of Sekigahara  in 1600 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Ieyasu seized power in 1600, received appointment as shogun in 1603, abdicated from office in 1605, but...

 relocated to Edo Castle

Edo Castle

, also known as , is a flatland castle that was built in 1457 by Ōta Dōkan. It is located in Chiyoda in Tokyo, then known as Edo, Toshima District, Musashi Province. Tokugawa Ieyasu established the Tokugawa shogunate here. It was the residence of the shogun and location of the shogunate, and also...

. The site now is an overgrown forested area, with only a stone marker to commemorate the location.