Mihara Castle

Published on : 24/09/2014
by : Japan Experience

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Mihara Castle in Hiroshima Prefecture was built by Kobayakawa Takakage in 1567 to enhance the control of the coastline by the powerful Mori clan.

Mihara Castle Ruins 三原城

Mihara Castle is not well known, due in the most part to the fact that very little of it is left standing, but in its day it was quite a formidable fortress. Mihara is located on the Inland Sea coast of what is now Hiroshima Prefecture.

Ruins of Mihara Castle, Hiroshima Prefecture

History of Mihara Castle

Mihara Castle was built in 1567 and earned the nickname Ukishiro or "Floating Castle," because it was connected to two small islands. Modern land reclamation means the ruins are now far inland.

Mihara Castle was built by Kobayakawa Takakage to enhance the control of the coastline by the powerful Mori clan. The Mori "navy" were influential in aiding Toyotomi Hideyoshi's subjugation of both Shikoku and Kyushu, and later in his invasion of Korea.

Following the defeat of the Mori at the Battle of Sekigahara by Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1600, Mihara Castle was awarded briefly to the Fukushima clan and then to the Asano clan who held it until the onset of the Meiji Period in 1869.

Mihara Castle had 14 gates, 32 yagura (turrets), and three baileys. A keep was never built, though the base for the keep was completed and was the largest in all Japan.

Mihara Castle was spared the fate that befell most Japanese castles at the onset of the Meiji Period as it was used as a naval base and not dismantled. However in 1894 it was closed down and all the buildings and much of the stonework were demolished to make way for the construction of the rail line and station that was built.

Almost all of what was left was destroyed in 1975 when the shinkansen line and Mihara Station was built. Some of the walls can be seen underneath the shinkansen station. A part of the moat and what is left of the base for the keep is now a small park.

Mihara Castle, Hiroshima. Mihara Castle, Hiroshima Prefecture
Mihara Castle. Stone Wall of Mihara Castle, Hiroshima Prefecture
Mihara Station & Castle, Hiroshima Prefecture