Kitanosho Castle Ruins Park

Kitanosho Castle Ruins Park is a park and shrine area within Shibata Park in Fukui City, Fukui Prefecture. After receiving a fief of 490,000 koku from Oda Nobunaga, Shibata Katsuie built Kitanosho Castle here. A stone shrine (sekishi) enshrining Katsuie and Oichi has been preserved as a castle-site deity within Fukui Castle grounds, and later the area was developed as Kitanosho Castle Ruins Park, where stone walls are still displayed. Shibata Park itself is lawn-covered, and the Kitanosho Castle Ruins/Shibata Park area has been selected as one of Japan’s Top 100 Historical Parks. Within the park is the Kitanosho Castle Ruins Museum, which can be viewed for free from 9:00 to 18:00. There are also bronze statues of Katsuie, Oichi, and the three Asai sisters, and within the park you’ll also find Shibata Shrine—an unusual combination. Shibata Shrine is an active shrine that also offers services like yakuyoke (warding off misfortune), and the offertory box bears the Shibata family crest. Part of the Kuzukubashi (Ninety-Nine Bridge), known for its half-stone half-wood construction, has been reconstructed and displayed. To get to Kitanosho Castle Ruins Park, it’s about a 5-minute walk from JR Fukui Station—an easy distance and a nice way to stretch your legs after arriving.