It is located in Nishio, eastern Aichi Prefecture. At the end of the Edo period, Nishio Castle was home to the Ogyu Matsudaira, Japanese feudal lord of Nishio Domain.
The castle dates to the Kamakura period with a fortification called Saijo- jō was built by Ashikaga Yoshiuji in around 1221. The territory came under the control of the Tokugawa clan in the Sengoku period, and by order of Tokugawa Ieyasu, Sakai Shigetada reconstucted the castle in 1585 with moats, stone walls, several watchtower, gates and a donjon.The castle was expanded further under Tanaka Yoshimasa, rulers of Sunpu Castle under Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
Following the establlishment of the Tokugawa shogunate, the castle became the headquarters of Nishio Domain, which changed hands many times during the Edo period.
It was dismantled in 1872, following the Meiji Restoration. The current structures include a large watch tower and gate, reconstructed in 1996 to boost local tourism along with a local history museum.
It is also known as Kameyama Castle, is a hilltop castle in Marugame City.
It has a commanding view of the city below and overlooks one of the narrowest parts of the Seto Inland Sea. Marugame Castle is one of only twelve castles remaining in Japan that have survived the post feudal ages (since 1868) with their keep buildings intact.
It was originally constructed from 1597 to 1602 by Ikoma Chikamasa, the feudal lord who also built Tamamo Castle in nearby Takamatsu.
However, due to a new policy by the shogun that limited the number of castles per province to just one, The Castle was abandoned again just 13 years after its completion. The castle was rebuilt in 1660 after the province had been split into two.
Over the centuries many of the castle buildings were destroyed by fires, and now only the original keep and several of the castle gates remain.
