| Tsuchiura Castle (土浦城, Tsuchiura-jō) is a flatland-style Japanese castle located in Tsuchiura, southern Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. At the end of the Edo period, Tsuchiura Castle was home to the Tsuchiya clan, daimyō of Tsuchiura Domain. The castle was also known as "Ki-jō" (亀城, Turtle Castle). The early history of Tsuchiura Castle is not clear, and per folklore the original castle was founded in the Heian period by Taira no Masakado. During the Sengoku period, the area around Tsuchiura was controlled by the Oda clan, who were later destroyed by the Yūki clan. After the Battle of Sekigahara, and the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate, the Yūki were relocated to Fukui Domain in Echizen Province and a portion of their vacated domain was given to Matsudaira Nobukazu as a reward for his rear-guard action in the Battle of Sekigahara. His son, Matsudaira Nobuyoshi, laid out the foundations of the castle town and built a number of gates on the Mito Kaidō highway linking Edo with Mito. |
