Imabari Castle

nihongo|Imabari Castle|今治城|imabarijō is a Japanese castle in Imabari, Ehime, Japan. This castle is well-known as one of the three 'Mizujiro', literally 'Castles in the sea' in Japan, with Takamatsu Castle in Kagawa Prefecture and Nakatsu Castle in Oita Prefecture

History

This castle was constructed by Todo Takatora, who was a local fuedal lord known as a daimyo. He collected superior knowledge and techniques for building castles from 1602 to 1604 in order to build his own castle. The original major castle to rule the area was Kokufu Castle located on the top of Mount Karako. However, Takatora thought the Kokufu Castle was not in the best place for the governance of the area, so he abolished the old castle and made a new one, Imabari Castle.By the order of Meiji Government, all of the buildings in the castle were destroyed. In 1980, Imabari City government constructed the new donjon tower in the castle.

Access

*Imabari Station of Yosan Line
*Imabari Port