Sakamoto Castle

Sakamoto Castle was a water castle (mizujiro) built on the western shore of Lake Biwa at the foot of Mt. Hiei in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, and was a genuine early modern castle that Akechi Mitsuhide developed as his residence. In Genki 2 (1571), Akechi Mitsuhide, who carried out the burning of Mt. Hiei under orders from Oda Nobunaga, was granted the land of Sakamoto in Ōmi Province as a reward for this achievement, and built his castle there.

Sakamoto Castle was a masterpiece of a "lake castle" (umijiro) built to project dramatically into the lake facing Lake Biwa, and is said to have embodied the finest castle-building techniques of the Oda-Toyotomi period. Luís Fróis's História de Japam records that, after the castle Nobunaga built on Mount Azuchi, there was no castle in the realm as famous as this one of Akechi's, revealing that it was a magnificent fortified castle into which Mitsuhide's cultural refinement and economic power were invested.

The castle had a tenshu (main tower) composed of a large and a small tower, and was a water castle into which the waters of Lake Biwa were drawn. From the main tower (tenshu), panoramic views of Lake Biwa spread out, and Mitsuhide held linked-verse poetry (renga) gatherings and tea ceremonies here, demonstrating his aspect as a cultured gentleman.

Following the Honnō-ji Incident of Tensho 10 (1582), Mitsuhide, defeated by Hashiba Hideyoshi at the Battle of Yamazaki, fell in battle during his retreat. Sakamoto Castle became a tragic site: tradition holds that, as the castle fell, Akechi Hidemitsu killed Mitsuhide's wife and children, set fire to the castle and took his own life. Afterwards the castle was rebuilt by Niwa Nagahide, but when Asano Nagamasa built Ōtsu Castle and moved there in Tenshō 14 (1586), it was abandoned, and its stone walls and other materials were reused for the construction of Ōtsu Castle. Today most of the castle site lies beneath the town, and Sakamoto Castle Ruins Park has been laid out along National Route 161.