Kiyosu Castle, Reconstructed medieval castle in Kiyosu, Japan
Kiyosu Castle is a reinforced concrete replica donjon built in 1989 beside the castle site in Kiyosu, Aichi Prefecture. Its exterior follows the decorated style of Momoyama-period castles rather than the white plaster of Edo-period ones, and its scale is conjectural because no original plans survive. Inside, a local history museum displays arms and armor.
Shiba Yoshishige founded the fortress in 1405 as a strategic post to control the Owari region. From 1555 onward Oda Nobunaga used the site as a starting point for his military campaigns, which eventually led to the unification of Japan in the 16th century.
The name Kiyosu appears as "Kiyosu-mikuriya" in the 14th-century Shōhō-shō, and both 清洲 and 清須 are accepted spellings of the same place. The castle grounds now host the spring cherry-blossom festival, when the trees along the Gojo River are lit at night, and winter illumination and projection mapping onto the keep run from mid-November to 25 December. Volunteers at the neighbouring Kiyosu Armor Factory make and teach the craft of medieval armour.
Access to all four levels involves steep wooden stairs, so visitors should wear sturdy shoes and take care. The best time to visit is on weekdays outside Japanese public holidays, when fewer people enter the narrow rooms.
The 1989 reconstruction includes a diorama theater that shows the arrangement of Owari Province during the warlord period. This recreated landscape was crafted with detailed miniatures portraying the road network and neighboring fortresses of that era.
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