Koga Castle
| Koga Castle 古河城 |
|
|---|---|
| Koga, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan | |
| Coordinates | Coordinates: 36°11′12.8″N 139°41′43.7″E / 36.186889°N 139.695472°E |
| Type | flatland-style Japanese castle |
| Site information | |
| Condition | ruin |
| Site history | |
| Built | Muromachi period |
| Built by | Doi clan |
| In use | Edo period |
| Demolished | 1873 |
Koga Castle (古河城 Koga-jō?) was a Japanese castle located in Koga, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. During the Muromachi period, Koga was the seat of the Kantō kubō, under the Ashikaga clan. At the end of the Edo period, Koga Castle was the administrative center of Koga Domain, which was held by a large number of fudai daimyō clans, spending the longest time under the control of the Doi clan (1633-1681, 1762-1871).
The fortification at Koga may date to the late Heian period or early Kamakura period, and the Azuma Kagami refers to a fortification in Koga built by Shimokobe Yukihira before 1180, although it is not certain if it was in this location. After the Battle of Uji (1180), the head of Minamoto Yorimasa was brought to Koga by the Shomokobe clan. A Shinto shrine to Minamoto Yorimasa still exists at the present Koga Castle site.
In 1455, the Kantō kubō Ashikaga Shigeuji relocated his seat from Kamakura to Koga. His descendants ruled to 1583, when the castle was taken by the Late Hōjō clan. The area was awarded to Tokugawa Ieyasu after the defeat of the Hōjō at the Siege of Odawara (1590) and subsequently became the center of Koga Domain under the Tokugawa shogunate. During the Edo period, much of the castle remained as reconstructed by Doi Toshikatsu in 1633.
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