Matsumoto Castle
The castle's origins go back to the Sengoku period. A fortification was built at this located by the "shugō" of Shinano Province, Shimadachi Sadanaga of the Ogasawara clan during the Eisho era (1504-1520). This minor border post was originally was called Fukashi Castle. In 1550 it was seized by the Takeda clan following the Siege of Fukashi. Takeda Shingen appointed his retainer Baba Nobuharu as castellan, and the castle was the Takeda field headquarters for their conquest of the Matsumoto Basin and as a redoubt in the constant conflict between the Takeda and the powerful Uesugi clan to the north. Following the defeat of the Takeda clan by Oda Nobunaga in 1582, the castle was surrendered to Oda Nagamasu, but it was soon reassigned to Kiso Yoshimasa. However, with the assassination of Oda Nobunaga in 1582, the castle was seized by Ogasawara Dosetsuzai with the backing of Uesugi Kagekatsu. His nephew, Ogasawara Sadayoshi, later pledged fealty to Tokugawa Ieyasu, and renamed the castle "Matsumoto Castle".