Château de Funaokajo, Japanese castle site in Shibata, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan

Funaokajo Castle is a yamajiro, a mountain castle, on Mount Shiho in Shibata, Miyagi Prefecture. No castle buildings remain; the site is now Funaokajo Castle Site Park, whose summit holds a 24-metre Funaoka Peace Kannon statue and a second-order triangulation point at 135.86 metres. About 1,000 cherry trees grow in the park.

Funaoka Castle, also called Shiho-kan, was held around 1200 by Shibata Jiro, who was pursued by Miyagi Koshiro Ieie. In the early 16th century it passed to the Date retainer Shiho Tajima Sadatomo, ancestor of the Shibata family. In 1671 Harada Munetoshi was executed after the Kanbun Incident and his line ended; in 1681 Shibata Soshin received 5,000 koku and took up residence.

The castle is also called Shihodate, after the Shihoyama hill where it stood; the site is now Funaoka Castle Ruins Park, planted with about 1,000 cherry trees. Since 1990 these have been counted with the riverside Hitome Senbonzakura row along the Shiroishi River as Miyagi Prefecture's only entry among Japan's Top 100 Cherry Blossom Spots. In autumn the park hosts the Miyagi Great Chrysanthemum Exhibition, Shibata edition.

The site is a park on a hill; the summit can be reached on foot or by the Shibata Town Funaoka Castle Site Park Slope Car, a 305 m inclined elevator that takes 3 minutes 40 seconds each way. It has been out of service since summer 2024, so check before relying on it. The park is about 10 minutes on foot from JR Funaoka Station, and parking is free except during the cherry blossom festival.

No castle buildings survive; the summit holds a 24-metre Peace Kannon statue erected in 1975 by a Shibata native at a cost of 75 million yen. Visitors could once enter the statue to look out over the plain, but the interior has been closed since the 2011 earthquake.