Yoshida Castle

Yoshida Castle 吉田城
Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, Japan
Reconstructed Kurogane Yagura of Yoshida Castle
Coordinates	Coordinates: 34°46′12.53″N 137°23′36.06″E / 34.7701472°N 137.3933500°E / 34.7701472; 137.3933500
Type	flatland-style Japanese castle
Site information
Open to the public	yes
Condition	reconstructed 1954
Site history
Built	1505
In use	Edo period
Demolished	1872

Yoshida Castle (吉田城, Yoshida-jō^?) is a Japanese castle located in Toyohashi, southeastern Aichi Prefecture, Japan. At the end of the Edo period, Yoshida Castle was home to the Inaba clan, daimyō of Tateyama Domain. The castle was also known as Imabashi Castle (今橋城, Imabashi-jō^?), and later as Toyohashi Castle.

Yoshida Castle is a flat-land style Japanese castle, built on the west bank of the Toyogawa (river). The main bailey was enclosed by a moat, with three three-story yagura, one two-story yagura and three gates. The second and third baileys were also moated, and had smaller yagura and fortified gates. Aside from some remnants of the stonework on the moats, nothing remains of the original structures. The present “castle” is a modern reconstruction of one of the three-story yagura. It houses a small museum with articles pertaining to local history.

A castle was built on the banks of the Toyogawa (river) in 1505 by Makino Kohaku, a retainer of Imagawa Ujichika to secure his foothold on eastern Mikawa Province against the growing power of the Matsudaira clan in western Mikawa Province. Due to its strategic location on a river crossing, the castle was involved in numerous battles during the Sengoku period, changing hands several times, and was destroyed and rebuilt on several occasions. From 1565, the castle came under the control of Tokugawa Ieyasu, who named Sakai Tadatsugu as castellan.