Yoshida Castle

History

The castle was originally built in 1505 by Makino Kohaku and was called Imahashi Castle. It was involved in several conflicts in the region during the Sengoku Period and lordship of the castle changed hands several times. In 1565, the region came under the control of Tokugawa Ieyasu who named Sakai Tadatsugu lord of the castle.

In 1590, when Tokugawa moved to the Kanto region, Hideyoshi gave control of the castle to Ikeda Terumasa. Ikeda repaired and improved much of the castle and developed the surrounding castle town. After the Battle of Sekigahara, Ikeda Terumasa moved to Himeji Castle and Yoshida Castle came under the control of Matsudaira Iekiyo. During the Edo Period, lordship of the castle changed hands many times until the coming of the Meiji Period.

Visit Notes

I only stopped by Yoshida Castle because I had some extra time in the area, but I am very glad that I did. There is a fair number of stone walls and some large moats that give you a fairly good picture of the castle.

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Gallery

main keep
Kurogane yagura.
Kurogane yagura
entrance to the honmaru
stone walls
stone walls
moat
stone walls and moat
moat
stone walls, moat
stone walls
map

Castle Profile
English Name	Yoshida Castle
Japanese Name	吉田城
Alternate Names	Imahashi-jo, Toyohashi-jo
Founder	Makino Kohaku
Year Founded	1505
Castle Type	Flatland
Castle Condition	No main keep but other buildings
Designations	Next 100 Castles, Local Historic Site
Historical Period	Edo Period
Main Keep Structure	3 level
Year Reconstructed	1954
Features	turrets, trenches, stone walls
Visitor Information
Access	Toyohashi Sta. (Tokaido Line), 20 min walk or 5 min streetcar
Visitor Information	park is open 24/7, the yagura is open on irregular occassions
Time Required	60 mins
Website	http://www.city.toyohashi.aichi.jp/town/spot1.html
Location	Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture
Coordinates	34° 46' 12.50" N, 137° 23' 35.95" E
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	2007
Contributor	Eric
Admin Year Visited	2009
Admin Visits	October 16, 2009

2.55

(11 votes)

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FurinkazanDaimyo

16 months ago

Score 0

On 20/05/2023, after Arai, I went back to my hotel, since I forgot my Next 100 meijô stamp book in my luggage. When I arrived at Yoshida castle, the tower was just closed. It closes at 15:00, and I arrived at 15:10. But a sign, in Japanese, says that there is a stamp on the 13th floor of the East building of the annex to the city hall. This is open until 22:00. I first went around the castle grounds and got my stamp afterwards.

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ARTShogun

54 months ago

Score 1

This site is like a two-in-one; in addition to the ishigaki you also get extensive earthwork ruins throughout the sannomaru area. Pleasant views to be had from the reedy area on the opposite side of the river.

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SuupaahiirooAshigaru

72 months ago

Score 0

This is a nice castle site with plenty of stone walls and dry moats to see. For a good view of the reconstructed watchtower and its location near the river, go to the nearby bridge (called Toyohashi, the namesake of the city).

The sign at the entrance of the castle mentioned there are some kokuin (刻印) to be seen in the stone walls. There is a small map pointing out the location of eight of these. Initially I was quite excited about that, but I must say most of them are very difficult to discern. If your time is limited and/or you don't feel like staring at stones for too long, I recommend you check out numbers 1, 6, and 7.

I visited on a Tuesday, so I couldn't enter the recontructed Kurogane Yagura. It's closed on Monday and Tuesday and on the other days it closes quite early (3pm if I remember correctly.)

Given its picturesque location near the river and proximity to the Tokaido and the former posttown Yoshida (corresponding to today's downtown Toyohashi), the castle is depicted is some famous woodblock prints. For those interested in the Tokaido: nearby posttowns Futagawa and Maisaka and checkpoint Arai have some interesting surviving historical buildings. Also highly recommended.

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Kiddus i2003Gunshi

113 months ago

Score 0

Another castle with a great location shame it was never rebuilt.

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FurinkazanDaimyo

126 months ago

Score 0

It's indeed a nice little castle to go for. Sadly the tower wawsn't open. From a sign on the door i could say that it was open during the 4-day golden weekend and apparently on the next sundays until end of june, hours from 10 to 15.

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RaymondWDaimyo

159 months ago

Score 0

This is not a bad little castle to visit with plenty of stone walls to see, particularly around the honmaru and some of the moats have been preserved. I went yesterday after going to Okazaki Castle and just missed out on being able to suss out the inside of the reconstructed turret. It was opened from 10:00 – 3:00. There was a sign hanging on the door saying that it will be opened again on 11th / 18th / 19th / 23th / 25th September.

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