Tsuruga Castle

Tsuruga Castle was an important stronghold in the Tohoku Region for the Tokugawa Shogunate. When it was first built in 1384 by Ashina Naomori it was called Kurokawa Castle. When the Ashina were defeated by the Date Clan the castle was put under Date Masamune, but was later given to Toyotomi Hideyoshi. In 1592, the ruling lord of the building, Gamo Ujisato, redesigned the structure and renamed it to Tsuruga Castle. However, the local populace referred to the castle as either Aizu or Wakamatsu Castle. During the Edo Period the Aizu Clan used it as a base of operations for both administrative and military purposes. In 1868, it was the location for the famed Battle of Aizu where the Aizu Clan was besieged for a month by Satsuma and Choshu forces. It was during this battle that the Byakkotai incident occurred in which 20 teenage boys believed their castle had fallen and committed suicide. This was not the case at the time and the story is only known because one member of the group failed in their attempt to take their own life. The castle was destroyed after the Boshin war because it was badly damaged, but was later rebuilt out of concrete. Tsuruga Castle is one of the top 100 castles to visit for cherry blossom viewing.