Japan · 16th century
Sakamoto Castle ranks #3,407 of 9,040 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #174 of the 295 mapped in Japan. Founded 1571, it is older than 35% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 887 atlas entries founded in the 16th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 10,198 times in the last 60 days, more than 94% of the atlas. 12 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Kyoto, 11 km away. It is one of the 69 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of Kansai. See how Japan compares in the castle statistics.
Sakamoto Castle (坂本城, Sakamoto-jō) was a lakeside castle in the Sengoku period, located in Ōtsu, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. Akechi Mitsuhide was the commander of the castle.
After the Siege of Mount Hiei, Sakamoto was given to Akechi Mitsuhide who built Sakamoto Castle under orders from the warlord Oda Nobunaga because Sakamoto was a strategically important place to rule. Luís Fróis described the castle as the second best castle in Japan at the time.
After the loss of Battle of Yamazaki, Mitsuhide tried to return to the castle but he was killed on the way. Surrounded by Toyotomi's army, Mitsuhide's adopted son Akechi Hidemitsu set fire to the castle and killed himself.
In 1583, Sakamoto castle was given to Niwa Nagahide and he rebuilt the castle. In 1586, Asano Nagamasa abandoned the castle and moved to Ōtsu Castle by Toyotomi Hideyoshi's order. (Stones and materials were transferred to Ōtsu Castle.)
Nowadays nothing remains of the original castle, and a statue of Akechi Mitsuhide stands in Sakamoto Castle's park. (Low stone wall remains in the Lake Biwa and can be seen when the water level drops.) A gate from Sakamoto Castle was relocated to Saikyō-ji Temple near the castle. (Akechi clan's tombs are also at Saikyō-ji Temple.)
Text adapted from “Sakamoto Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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