* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Ota Castle (Maizuru Castle, Hitachi Province)
太田城（舞鶴城）
- Lord
- Fujiwara Michinobu (traditional founder); successive generations of the Satake clan (from the 2nd head, Takayoshi, until the move to Mito Castle in 1591)
- Era
- Heian period (traditionally founded in 1109) to 1602, when it was abandoned after the Satake clan was transferred to Akita
- Designation
- No cultural-property designation; almost no structural remains survive due to urbanization
- Location
- Hitachi-Ota, Ibaraki Prefecture
- Access
- About 15 min on foot from Hitachi-Ota Station on the JR Suigun Line (near Wakamiya Hachiman Shrine and Ota Elementary School)
Ota Castle (Maizuru Castle, Hitachi Province) is a historic castle in the Kantō region (Heian period (traditionally founded in 1109) to 1602, when it was abandoned after the Satake clan was transferred to Akita). Its lord was Fujiwara Michinobu (traditional founder); successive generations of the Satake clan (from the 2nd head, Takayoshi, until the move to Mito Castle in 1591).
Overview
Founding
Ota Castle is traditionally said to have been founded in 1109, when Fujiwara Michinobu, a fourth-generation descendant of Fujiwara no Hidesato, moved from Shimotsuke Province into Ota in Hitachi Province and built a castle there, styling himself Ota-tayū. It is also known by the alternate names "Maizuru-jō" (Dancing Crane Castle), "Satake-jō," and "Seiryū-jō."
Succession of Lords
Minamoto no Masayoshi, grandson of Minamoto no Yoshimitsu, who distinguished himself in the Later Three-Year War, gained territory in Hitachi Province and took the name Satake. The second Satake head, Takayoshi, pressured the castle's lord, Fujiwara Michimori (ancestor of the Onozaki clan), into surrendering it, after which Ota Castle became the Satake clan's stronghold. It is said to have gained the name "Maizuru-jō" because a crane was seen dancing over the castle on the day Takayoshi took up residence. The Satake clan subsequently grew into one of the foremost Sengoku daimyo of the Kantō region, and for more than 400 years held Ota Castle as its base. At the end of 1590, it seized Mito Castle from the Edo clan, and in the following year, 1591, Satake Yoshinobu moved the clan's base there. After the Battle of Sekigahara, in 1602, the Satake clan was transferred from its 540,000-koku holding in Hitachi to an 180,000-koku domain at Kubota in Dewa (Akita), and Ota Castle was abandoned.
Structure
The main bailey is thought to have stood in the area now occupied by Hitachi-Ota Municipal Ota Elementary School. The castle grounds are said to have extended over a wide area from Uchibori-chō to Sakae-chō, but the land was parceled out for private use in the early Meiji era and urbanized. Although earthworks and portions of the baileys reportedly survived until the end of the Taishō era, almost no remains are visible today due to urban development.
Present State
The site holds no formal cultural-property designation. It is sometimes counted among the "Seven Great Castles of the Kantō." Visits today center on viewing the site from the area around Ota Elementary School.
Highlights
- Stronghold of the Satake clan, one of the leading Sengoku daimyo of the Kantō region, for more than 400 years
- Alternate name "Maizuru-jō" (Dancing Crane Castle), derived from a crane said to have danced above the castle when Takayoshi, the 2nd Satake head, entered it
- Abandoned after the Satake clan's transfer to Akita following Sekigahara; almost no structural remains survive
- The main bailey corresponds to the area of present-day Ota Elementary School, and the second bailey to the area around Wakamiya Hachiman Shrine
* Opening hours and admission fees are subject to change. Please check the official website before visiting.