Inuyama Castle

The original site of this castle, (southern side of the Kiso River), belonged to the Harigane Shrine, but the temple was moved away so the Inuyama could be built.

In 1537, Oday Noguyasu, grandfather of the great Oda Nobunaga established this castle, but a tenshu was not constructed until many years. It was believed that the Inuyama Castle's tenshu was taken from the Kanayama Castle. The tenshu was then built into the castle in 1600. It is a two-story structure with two more stories above it acting as watchtowers.

After Hideyoshi took control of the area, he placed Ishikaway Sadakiyo at Inuyama, but he lost in the Battle of Sekigahara and also lost possession of the castle. Matsudaira Tadayoshi then placed Ogasawara Yoshitsugu at his new prize, but in 1616, the castle owner changed yet again to Naruse Masanari. Though the castle was taken by the government because of the Meiji Revolution in 1872, in 1891, an earthquake damaged the castle. Four years after that, the government decided to give back the castle to the Naruse family if they would repair the castle and continue maintaining it. It is one of the few castles that are privately owned.