Kururi Castle

Nihongo|Kururi Castle|久留里城|Kururi-jō, also known as U Castle, is a "yamashiro" (castle on sited a mountain) located in Kimitsu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan.

History

Kururi Castle was built by the Mariyatsu Takeda in 1540. It was later taken over by Satomi Yoshitaka, who used it as his base of operations against the Hōjō clan, based from Odawara Castle. The Hojo attempted to take the castle on a few occasions, until they finally seized it in 1564. They lost it just three years later in 1567, when Satomi once again gained control of it. Following the Battle of Sekigahara, Kururi castle was ruled by the Osuga Clan, Tsuchiya, and Kuroda. In 1872, during the Meiji Restoration, the castle was destroyed.

Today, Kururi Castle's ruins are a park, and the "tenshu" (keep) stands once again, having been reconstructed out of concrete in 1979. It contains the castle's museum. [ [http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.ccb.or.jp/e/attractions/tours/images/kururi2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.ccb.or.jp/e/attractions/tours/index.html&h=143&w=116&sz=8&hl=en&start=15&um=1&tbnid=a9bXn6DrjsyTbM:&tbnh=94&tbnw=76&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522kururi%2Bcastle%2522%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-US%26sa%3DN Google Image Result for http://www.ccb.or.jp/e/attractions/tours/images/kururi2.jpg ] ]

A legend that surrounds Kururi Castle is that it rained twenty-one times during the original construction, or, on average, once every three days. This is how it received its alternate name- U Castle (Rain Castle). [ [http://www.jcastle.info/castle/profile/13-Kururi-Castle Kururi Castle ] ]

References