Shibushi Castle

A mountain castle built on the Shirasu plateau overlooking Shibushi Bay (a collective name for Uchijō, Matsuo Castle, Takajō, and Shinjō). From the Nanboku-chō period onward, castellans changed one after another, and the Niiro clan, a branch family of the Shimazu, later governed the area. However, it was drawn into power struggles within the Shimazu, and in 1538 the Niiro clan was attacked by Shimazu Tadatomo of the Hōshū branch, Hongō Tadasuke, Kimotsuki Kanetsugu, and others, surrendered, and lost Shibushi. Afterward it was governed by the Shimazu of the Hōshū branch, but in 1562 the Kimotsuki clan seized it. In 1576–1577 the Shimazu recaptured it and assigned Kamata Masachika as jitō (estate steward). The central Uchijō sits at the southern end of the plateau ridge, with six large enclosures arranged in sequence and separated by dry moats, and it is heavily defended by large dry moats and earthen ramparts. In the Edo period, it was abandoned in 1615 under the One Castle per Province Edict. In 2017 it was selected as No. 197 in the Continued Japan 100 Castles.