Kitanosho Castle

{{Infobox military installation

|name=Kitanosho Castle

| nativename-a=北ノ庄城

|partof=

|location=Fukui, Fukui, Japan

|image=Shibata Shrine - Kitanoshō Castle 20210505 02.jpg

|image_size=300px

|caption=Ruins of Kitanosho Castle found at Shibata Park

|map_type = Japan Fukui Prefecture#Japan

|map_size =

|map_caption =

|type =flatland-style Japanese castle

|coordinates = {{coord|36.060139|136.219654|format=dms|display=inline, title|type:landmark_region:JP_scale:10000}}

|built=1575

|builder=Shibata Katsuie

|materials=wood, stone

|height=

|used=

|condition=

|ownership=

}}

{{nihongo|Kitanosho Castle|北ノ庄城|Kitanoshō-jō}} was a hirashiro (castle located on flatland). 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. Also, it appears that the tenshu (keep) was nine stories high, making it the largest of the time.

The castle was destroyed by fire in 1583, after Katsuie killed his wife, Oichi, and then committed seppuku, following defeat in the Battle of Shizugatake against Toyotomi Hideyoshi.[http://www.city.fukui.lg.jp/lang/english/kankou/castle.html Fukui Castle, Kitanosho Ruins] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211071755/http://www.city.fukui.lg.jp/lang/english/kankou/castle.html |date=2008-12-11 }}{{cite book|last1=Turnbull|first1=Stephen|title=The Samurai Sourcebook|date=1998|publisher=Cassell & Co|location=London|isbn=9781854095237|page=234}}{{cite book|last1=Sansom|first1=George|title=A History of Japan, 1334-1615|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofjapan00sans|url-access=registration|date=1961|publisher=Stanford University Press|location=Stanford|isbn=0804705259|page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofjapan00sans/page/311 311-313]}} A few stone foundations of the castle were uncovered in archaeological digs and are now open to the public.[http://www.jcastle.info/castle/profile/2-Kitanosho-Castle Kitanosho Castle] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080319020307/http://www.jcastle.info/castle/profile/2-Kitanosho-Castle |date=2008-03-19 }}