Takasaki Castle

Takasaki Castle, also historically known as Wada-jō, is a flatland-style Japanese castle located in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture. Originally constructed in 1597 by the renowned general Ii Naomasa under orders from Tokugawa Ieyasu, the fortress was built upon the ruins of an earlier fortified manor destroyed during the Siege of Odawara. Its location was strategically chosen to control the vital junction connecting the Nakasendō and Mikuni Kaidō highways. The castle served as the administrative center for the Takasaki Domain throughout the Edo period, governed by a succession of fudai daimyō clans, most notably the Sakai, Andō, and Matsudaira families.

The site holds significant historical weight beyond its military function. In 1633, Shōgun Tokugawa Iemitsu exiled his younger brother, Tokugawa Tadanaga, to the castle and ordered him to commit seppuku within its grounds. Architecturally, the castle underwent a massive seventy-seven-year reconstruction project beginning in 1619, which added a three-story donjon and multiple two-story watchtowers. However, following the Meiji Restoration in 1872, most structures were demolished or sold, and the moats were filled in. During World War II, the grounds were occupied by the Imperial Japanese Army's 15th Infantry Regiment.

Today, the former castle grounds house the Takasaki city hall and city library, serving as a civic hub rather than a military installation. While the main keep and most defenses were lost to time and modernization, fragments of its history remain. One of the original yagura watchtowers survived in private ownership until 1974, when it was purchased by the city and relocated for preservation. The site is currently open to the public, offering visitors a glimpse into the region's feudal past amidst modern urban development.