Imagawa Yoshimoto
The origins of Takatenjin Castle are obscure. It may have been built at some point in the 15th century by the Kushima clan, a minor local clan who were retainers of the Imagawa clan. Kushima Masashige (1492-1521) led the Imagawa army during a failed invasion of Kai province, reaching the approaches to Kōfu before being defeated by the Takeda clan under Takeda Nobutora. The clan was later suppressed during the reign of Imagawa Yoshimoto for siding with his enemies during an internal power struggle. Imagawa Yoshimoto gave the castle to the Ogasawara clan. Although the Imagawa were defeated by a coalition between Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu and the Tokugawa clan gained control of the castle, Ieyasu left Ogasawara Nagatada as castellan at the time of the Battle of Anegawa in 1570.