is a mountain 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...

 in the former Iwashiro

Iwashiro, Fukushima

was a town located in Adachi District, Fukushima, Japan.On December 1, 2005 Iwashiro, along with the towns of Adachi and Tōwa, all from Adachi District, was merged into the city of Nihonmatsu....

 (now Nihonmatsu

Nihonmatsu, Fukushima

is a city located in Fukushima, Japan. As of May 2011, the city has an estimated population of 59,323. The total area is 344.65 km².The city was founded on October 1, 1958.-Geography:Nihonmatsu's Western border consists of the Adatara mountain range...

), Fukushima Prefecture

Fukushima Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region on the island of Honshu. The capital is the city of Fukushima.-History:Until the Meiji Restoration, the area of Fukushima prefecture was known as Mutsu Province....

, 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 ruins of the inner tower are now part of a historical park.

History

In the Shiomatsu region where this castle is located, during the Muromachi period

Muromachi period

The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate, which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi shogun, Ashikaga Takauji, two years after the brief Kemmu restoration of imperial...

 the Ishibashi family ruled over the territory. This castle is believed that of Ishibashi's clan members, Ōuchi built it. In 1568, Ōuchi Yoshitsuna conquered its master Ishibashi Naoyoshi, and took the Shiomatsu area. In 1584 when Date Masamune

Date Masamune

was a regional strongman of Japan's Azuchi-Momoyama period through early Edo period. Heir to a long line of powerful daimyo in the Tōhoku region, he went on to found the modern-day city of Sendai...

 took control of the Date clan, Ōuchi Sadatsuna, the leader of the clan pledged allegiance to him, but in the following year, he separated and joined the Ashina clan. Masamune attacked Shiomatsu and took control of one of the satellite castles of Obama, the Otemori castle. Ōuchi Sadatsuna fled to the Ashina and Masamune entered the castle without battle.

Later, Date Masamune used the castle as a base for attacking the Hatakeyama clan, and stayed in this castle until August of 1586. After a while, Sadatsuna surrendered to Masamune and became one of his clan members. In 1591, Gamō Ujisato

Gamo Ujisato

was a Japanese daimyo of the Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. The heir and son of Gamō Katahide, lord of Hino Castle in Ōmi Province, he later held Matsusaka and finally Aizuwakamatsu Castle in Mutsu Province...

 took control of Shiomatsu, and his clan member Gamō Chūzaemon became the holder of the castle. The stone wall seen now at the ruins of the main castle was built at this time. Later in Uesugi times, Yamaura Kagekuni became the holder, and in Gamō times Tamai Sadau became the holder. In 1627, the castle was abandoned.

Miyamori Castle

2 kilometres (1.2 mi) south of Obama Castle is the ruins of Miyamori castle. It was thought that the two castles Miyamori and Obama will protect each other geographically. Masamune's father Date Terumune

Date Terumune

was a Japanese daimyo of the Sengoku period. He succeeded his father Harumune and became the sixteenth head of the Date clan of Mutsu Province. Date Masamune, the founder of the Sendai Domain, was his son....

 entered Miyamori castle shortly after Masamune entered Obama. It was at this castle that Terumune was abducted by Hatakeyama Yoshitsugu

Hatakeyama Yoshitsugu

was a Japanese daimyo of the Sengoku period, who was the 14th head of the Nihonmatsu clan of Mutsu....

. Now, there stands a Shinto

Shinto

or Shintoism, also kami-no-michi, is the indigenous spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. It is a set of practices, to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written...

shrine on top of the ruins.