was a Japanese 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...

 of 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...

, controlled by the Kizawa and Matsunaga clans.

Location

The castle was located atop Mount Shigi, on the border of Japan's Kawachi

Kawachi Province

was a province of Japan in the eastern part of modern Osaka Prefecture. It originally held the southwestern area that was split off into Izumi Province...

 and Yamato province

Yamato Province

was a province of Japan, located in Kinai, corresponding to present-day Nara Prefecture in Honshū. It was also called . At first, the name was written with one different character , and for about ten years after 737, this was revised to use more desirable characters . The final revision was made in...

s (today Nara prefecture

Nara Prefecture

is a prefecture in the Kansai region on Honshū Island, Japan. The capital is the city of Nara.-History:The present-day Nara Prefecture was created in 1887, making it independent of Osaka Prefecture....

). The shugo

Shugo

was a title, commonly translated as "Governor," given to certain officials in feudal Japan. They were each appointed by the shogun to oversee one or more of the provinces of Japan...

(shogunal governors) and later daimyo

Daimyo

is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...

 of Yamato province ruled the province from Shigisan, and wielded some control over the strategic passes between Yamato and Kawachi.

The location was also significant for the temple of Chōgosonshi-ji, which sits on the mountainside, some distance below the castle. Shigisan is the central mountain of the Shingon sect of Buddhism, and is claimed to be the location where, in 587, Shōtoku Taishi defeated Mononobe no Moriya

Mononobe no Moriya

was an Ō-muraji, a high-ranking clan head position of the ancient Japanese Yamato state, having inherited the position from his father Mononobe no Okoshi...

 in the battle of Shigisan

Battle of Shigisan

The Battle of , , , , , or was a battle fought in 587 between Soga no Umako and Mononobe no Moriya at the riverside of the river in Kawachi Province, Japan near Mount Shigi. The battle practically exterminated the Mononobe clan, the most powerful opponent of Buddhism....

.

History

The castle was originally constructed in 1536 by Kizawa Nagamasa

Kizawa Nagamasa

Kizawa Nagamasa was a daimyo of the Sengoku Period in Japan.Nagamasa built Shigisan Castle for the Hatakeyama clan in 1536, an accomplishment that earned him the title of shugo of Yamato Province. In 1561 he expanded into Shiga Prefecture when he defeated the Rokkaku clan at the Battle of Maibara...

, who commanded it on behalf of the Hatakeyama clan

Hatakeyama clan

The ' was a Japanese samurai clan. Originally a branch of the Taira clan and descended from Taira no Takamochi, they fell victim of political intrigue in 1205, when Hatakeyama Shigeyasu, first, and his father Shigetada later were killed in battle by Hōjō forces in Kamakura...

, who held the post of shugo of Yamato province. It was repaired and expanded on in 1559, by Matsunaga Hisahide

Matsunaga Hisahide

Matsunaga Hisahide was a daimyo of Japan following the Sengoku period of the 16th century.A companion of Miyoshi Chokei, he was a retainer of Miyoshi Masanaga from the 1540s. He directed the conquest of the province of Yamato in the 1560s and by 1564 had built a sufficient power-base to be...

, who commanded it on behalf of the Miyoshi clan

Miyoshi clan

The Miyoshi clan is a Japanese family descended from Emperor Seiwa and the Minamoto clan . They were a cadet branch of the Ogasawara clan and the Takeda clan....

. It would grow to be roughly 700m from north to south, and 550m from east to west, and included a four-story 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...

(tower or turret). In 1562, however, the daimyo of Yamato province moved to Tamonyama castle.

Shigisan castle fell to members of the Miyoshi clan in 1568, but was recaptured quickly afterwards when the attackers' attention was redirected to the capital by the activities of Oda Nobunaga

Oda Nobunaga

was the initiator of the unification of Japan under the shogunate in the late 16th century, which ruled Japan until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was also a major daimyo during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. His opus was continued, completed and finalized by his successors Toyotomi...

. Nobunaga would then besiege the castle in 1577, destroying it and bringing the downfall of Matsunaga Hisahide.