Chiba Castle

Located a good hour away from Tokyo and in Chiba City, the Chiba Castle or Inohana-jo, was first built in 1126 by Tsuneshige Chiba. He was the first ‘gunji’ administrator of Sōma District, and was then transferred to the same position in Chiba District.
For many centuries, the Chiba family ruled over the area from this castle. Then in 1455, Makuwari Yasutane, a relative of the Chiba family, attacked and defeated them resulting in the castle’s demise. Thanks to his lineage Makuwari Yasutane took over the name of the Chiba family and decided to build his own castle, the Honsakura Castle, in the nearby city of Sakura, leaving the first Chiba family’s castle in ruins.

It was only in 1967, that the City of Chiba decided to give Chiba Castle a second life with a new and modern design. Though it is far removed from what the first castle built in 1126 looked like, it now doubles as the city’s official folk museum