Sonobe Castle Ruins
The remains of Sonobe Castle include its turret gate, guardhouse and Tatsumiyagura turret.
They are now the entrance and school gate of the Kyoto Prefectural Sonobe High School and Junior High School.
The “castle” was built by Koide Yoshichika, lord of the Sonobe clan, but without permission from the Shogunate was treated as a camp without a castle tower.
It was not until 250 years after its original construction that the Meiji government granted permission for the castle, which was rebuilt with turrets and other structures, and became known as Sonobe Castle, thereby making it the last castle in the history of Japanese architecture.
