Kaminoyama Castle, Japanese castle in Kaminoyama, Yamagata Prefecture, Japan

Kaminoyama Castle is a hirayama-style castle in central Kaminoyama, Yamagata Prefecture. Its 1982 concrete reconstruction is a three-tier keep with white plastered walls, dark grey tiled roofs and a gold ornament on top, rising from a battered stone base. Inside, the local history museum holds seasonal exhibitions of dolls, armour and swords.

The first fortification on this site dates to the early Muromachi period, when the Tendō clan controlled the area. In 1535 Takenaga Yoshitada, a Mogami retainer, built the castle that became the southern stronghold of the Mogami clan. After the Mogami were dispossessed, Kaminoyama Domain was created in 1622 with 40,000 koku. The Toki clan built a keep, destroyed when they were transferred in 1692; from 1697 the Fujii Matsudaira ruled until the Meiji Restoration.

The castle is also called Tsukioka Castle, after the Tsukioka and Tenjin Forest area where it stood. Its grounds now hold Tsukioka Shrine, whose deities are Matsudaira Toshinaga and Matsudaira Nobukazu of the Fujii Matsudaira line. The museum inside the keep shows seasonal displays of hina dolls, armour and swords.

A short walk or brief taxi ride from JR Kaminoyama Onsen Station brings visitors to the entrance. The museum opens in the morning and closes in the late afternoon, with closures on select weekdays.

The present keep is a concrete reconstruction from 1982, built on the site of the second bailey; its rebuilding with a keep was debated at the time. Inside, the local history museum holds seasonal exhibitions of hina dolls, armour and swords. From the observation deck the Zao mountain range can be seen in the distance.