Shinpu Castle

Shinpu Castle (新府城, Shinpu-jō) was a Sengoku period hirayama-style Japanese castle located in what is now part of the city of Nirasaki, Yamanashi prefecture. It was the primary fortress of the warlord Takeda Katsuyori. The ruins have been protected as a National Historic Site since 1973.

Shinpu Castle is located on a mountain with steep sides overlooking the Kamanashi River to the west of Kōfu, where Takeda Shingen's Tsutsujigasaki Castle was located. Following Shingen's death, his son and successor, Takeda Katsuyori initially successfully expanded his territory into eastern Mino Province; however, suffered a major defeat against Oda Nobunaga's matchlock-armed forces at the Battle of Nagashino, losing four of his top generals. Following this defeat, the Takeda found themselves surrounded by increasing aggressive neighbors, including the Oda, the Tokugawa clan, the Uesugi clan and the Odawara Hōjō clan. Katsuyori felt that a castle located near the center of his domains would be easier to defend, and over the objections of many of his surviving vassals relocated from Tsutsujigasaki Castle in 1581.

The castle is located on a hill with steep cliffs which was created by an ancient lava flow from Mount Yatsugatake and erosion by the Kamanashi River. The defenses enclosed an area 500 meters long by 200 meters wide in a north-to-south orientation. The Inner bailey was a square enclosure at the top of the hill, and connects to the main gate, which was located to the west, via a second bailey. The layout thus somewhat resembles the layout of Tsutsujigasaki Castle. South of the central area was a large third bailey, which was approximately 100 meters long and divided into two kuruwa enclosures by a clay wall. The main gate of the castle was also fortified by a half-circular fortification with a dry moat.

The northern side of the castle was also fortified by two protections, which extended into a water moat. Construction of the castle took only eight months and was overseen by Sanada Masayuki.

In early 1582, before the castle or its jōkamachi were even complete, an alliance between Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu invaded the Takeda holdings in Shinano Province after the defection of Kiso Yoshimasa. Takatō Castle fell after only one day, and many Takeda retainers defected or simply ran away.

Text adapted from “Shinpu Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Shinpu Castle ranks #3,893 of 8,134 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #197 of the 297 mapped in Japan. Founded 1581, it is older than 36% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 755 atlas entries founded in the 16th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 6,242 times in the last 60 days, more than 88% of the atlas. 3 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Sagamihara, 88 km away. See how Japan compares in the castle statistics.

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