Kojidame Castle

Kojidame Castle [泍仕召莽; こじだめがり] is a hilltop castle located in the city of Kojidame in Shinkō Prefecture. It was built during the early 1600s by the konbūshin of Shinkō, Shin no Azagiru.
== History ==
Kojidame Castle was built sometime in 1604 by Shin no Azagiru as a retreat for his family and noble friends; it was also used as a look-out point and a fortification for the western ward of Meikai. It was also strategically located on the main highway which ran through Shinkō during this time. It was known as Tsukangari, or the 'outer west castle'.
The castle changed hands in 1680, after Shin no Azagiru passed away. After being inherited by his son Yōno, it was attacked in 1583 by the local Nimi clan, who had allied with multiple other tribes in an effort to seize the castle. Their attempts were successful, mostly due to Shin no Yōno's relative incompetence with military affairs. It became the headquarters of the Nimi for around a decade, and was renamed as Nimi Castle. However in 1697, Yōno sent a large number of soldiers back to the castle to reclaim it; it was finally won back and the Nimi lineage was eliminated.
The castle remained in the control of the Shin until the 1970s, when a descendent who had inherited the building and its grounds donated it to the prefectural government as an important historical monument.