is a flatland castle located in Fukui

Fukui

Fukui is a Japanese name meaning "fortunate" or it can mean "one who is from the Fukui prefecture". It may refer to:- Places :* Fukui Prefecture** Fukui, Fukui - the city of the same name in the prefecture...

, Fukui Prefecture

Fukui Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region on Honshū island. The capital is the city of Fukui.- Prehistory :The Kitadani Dinosaur Quarry, on the Sugiyama River within the city limits of Katsuyama, has yielded the Fukuiraptor kitadaniensis and Fukuisaurus tetoriensis as well as an unnamed...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

.

History

Yuki Hideyasu

Yuki Hideyasu

was a Japanese daimyo who lived during the Azuchi-Momoyama and early Edo periods. Born the second son of Tokugawa Ieyasu, he established the Echizen Fukui Domain.-Birth:...

 built Fukui Castle in 1606 after he was given the territory of Kitanosho by Tokugawa Ieyasu

Tokugawa Ieyasu

 was the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan , which ruled from the Battle of Sekigahara  in 1600 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Ieyasu seized power in 1600, received appointment as shogun in 1603, abdicated from office in 1605, but...

 after Hideyasu helped Ieyasu in the battle of Sekigahara. Hideyasu built the castle north of an older castle known as Kitanosho Castle

Kitanosho Castle

was a hirashiro . Its remains are located in current-day Fukui, Fukui Prefecture, Japan. As the castle lasted merely eight years, few records survive about it. It is known, though that it was built by Shibata Katsuie in 1575...

. It was christened Fukui Castle by its next lord, Matsudaira Tadamasa

Matsudaira Tadamasa

was a Japanese daimyo of the early Edo period. The 2nd son of Yūki Hideyasu, he succeeded the family headship following his brother Tadanao's forced retirement.He had a magnificent residence constructed outside Edo Castle.-References:...

, who became the lord of Kitanosho in 1624. The name comes from a well called Fukunoi, or good luck well, the remains of which can still be seen today. The tenshu

Tenshu

thumbnail|250px|right|Matsue TenshuTenshu, , also called Tenshukaku, 天守閣, the central tower or main keep at Japanese castle. It is the most important part of Japanese castle. It began from Sengoku period. Azuchi Castle, built in 1576 by Oda Nobunaga, was Japan's first castle to have a Tenshu....

, or keep

Keep

A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word keep, but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residences, used as a refuge of last resort should the rest of the...

, of the castle was destroyed by fire in 1669. What remained of the castle continued to be used until the Meiji Restoration

Meiji Restoration

The , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, Reform or Renewal, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868...

, when all the buildings were torn down, leaving the stone walls and the lord's palace. In 1945, the palace was destroyed by United States Army Air Force firebombing

Firebombing

Firebombing is a bombing technique designed to damage a target, generally an urban area, through the use of fire, caused by incendiary devices, rather than from the blast effect of large bombs....

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Today, the castle is in ruins, and the prefectural government buildings stand on the grounds, though the palace was reconstructed in 1993.

Sources

• http://www.jcastle.info/castle/profile/3-Fukui-Castle
• http://www.city.fukui.lg.jp/lang/english/kankou/castle.html