Ohmizo Castle

There is only the stone base of the castle keep left here but the stone remains are impressive for their size and that they survived in the middle of the town this whole time. There are some signs of districts that existed around the castle town to help provide some sense of the original castle. I f

History

Oda Nobunaga ordered his nephew, Oda Nobuzumi to construct a castle at Takashima to control the western shores of Lake Biwa. The castle was designed by Akechi Mitsuhide. It also functioned as an important port on Lake Biwa. After the Battle of Tennosan in 1582 with the demise of Akechi Mitsuhide, Oda Nobuzumi’s loyalty was called into question, and he was killed by Niwa Nagahide’s troops. After that, Toyotomi Hideyoshi installed one of his generals, Kyougoku Takatsugu as the lord of Oomizo Castle. Takatsugu was also married to Hatsu, one of Asai Nagamasa’s daughters. The castle was decommissioned under “One castle per domain” edict and many stones and parts were used to build Minakuchi Okayama Castle. In 1619, Ohmizo Jin'ya was established in the Sannomaru Bailey. Any remaining remnants of Ohmizo Castle were developed over but for some reason the stone foundation of the main keep survived to today.

Field Notes

There is only the stone base of the castle keep left here but the stone remains are impressive for their size and that they survived in the middle of the town this whole time. There are some signs of districts that existed around the castle town to help provide some sense of the original castle. I found it to feel even smaller than it looks on the maps! A few of those photographs may be found below, but to be honest I'm not sure if they should belong to the castle or Ohmizo Jin'ya.

On my latest trip I also found that the nearby Shoanji Temple claims that their main hall was relocated from one of the halls of the palace at Ohmizo Castle. This seems to be well written about and is now even identified on Google Maps, but the book 城郭移築建造物大全 is skeptical of the claim. It does not look like there is much evidence of castle architecture from that time period unless it has been heavily renovated, but no one has been allowed to study it in detail.

Original Profile by RaymondW (2012) updated by Eric in 2024.

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Gallery

Shoanji Temple
Shoanji Temple

Castle Profile
English Name	Ohmizo Castle
Japanese Name	大溝城
Alternate Names	Takashima Castle
Founder	Oda Nobuzumi
Year Founded	1578
Castle Type	Flatland
Castle Condition	Ruins only
Designations	Local Historic Site
Historical Period	Pre Edo Period
Features	water moats, trenches, stone walls
Visitor Information
Access	Omitakashima Sta. (Kosei Line), 5 min walk
Hours	Park, open anytime
Time Required	30 minutes
URL	Castle Website
Location	Takashima, Shiga Prefecture
Coordinates	35.29246, 136.01291
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	2012
Contributor	RaymondW
Admin Year Visited	Viewer Contributed, 2023, 2024
Admin Visits	Sept 29, 2023
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