Feel History

The current incarnation of Iga-Ueno Castle is a reconstruction of the original castle built by Todo Takatora, constructed in 1935 by Katsu Kawasaki as the Iga-Ueno Cultural and Industrial Castle.
It is a beautifully three-tiered castle that resembled a phoenix resting its wings, hence its nickname “White Phoenix Castle”. Todo originally built it with a five-story castle tower, but the tower collapsed in a massive storm that struck the area in 1612.
The high stone walls built by Todo remain in their original state.

While it is unknown when Sugawara Shrine was founded, in antiquity, it enshrined the deity of agriculture that protected Heirakuji Temple on Mount Ueno (present-day Iga-Ueno Castle). It was burned down along with Heirakuji Temple during the Tensho-Iga War in 1581 and later rebuilt. When Todo Takatora built the castle town in 1611, the shrine was moved to this location and enshrined as the castle town’s guardian deity.

This two-story wooden Western-style building has a hipped, pantiles roof, and a total site area of 274 square meters. The entasis of the column that bulges in the center and the gabled front porch are the most elaborate parts of the building, and the balcony located at the front of the second floor is unusually eye-catching.

The gate of the Irimajiri Family Residence, called a Nagayamon gate, is a distinctive feature of samurai residences.
There are two entrances to the main building: a ceremonial entrance at the front used by visiting superiors, and a side entrance to the left of the ceremonial entrance for family members and other visitors. The rooms on the north side of the main building served as spaces to entertain guests, while the rooms on the south side were private living quarters.
Each room in the main house had wooden flooring; tatami mat flooring was not used at all.

During the Todo clan’s reign over Iga, this festival went from being primarily a procession of portable shrines to including shirushi (altars bearing the banners of each neighborhood) and stalls playing festival music, developing into the “Shirushi, Demons, and Danjiri” parade that exists today.
A procession of more than a hundred demons parades through the streets, accompanying the portable shrines as heralds, some of whom wear a mask known as “En no Gyoja” said to have been donated by Todo Takatora, the first feudal lord of the domain, as an answer to his prayers at Shugendo Temple in the castle town for the quick recovery of an eye ailment from which he was suffering.

The New Great Buddha Hall and Treasure Storehouse
The principal image of worship here is a statue of the Great Buddha sculpted by Kaikei, a famous Buddhist sculptor from the Kamakura Period (1185-1333). The statue, made of cypress and standing over 4 meters tall, is known as the "Great Buddha of Awa" and is a designated National Important Cultural Property that is currently enshrined in the New Great Buddha Hall.
Shindaibutsuji Temple also enshrines several items designated as National Important Cultural Properties or cultural properties of Mie Prefecture or Iga. One of these is a statue of Chogen, one of only four in Japan, with the others located at Todaiji Temple, Jodoji Temple (Hyogo Prefecture), and Amidadera Temple (Yamaguchi Prefecture).

The Akai Clan, who once served as the lords of Kuroi Castle in Tanba Province, were confined to their estate in Kyoto, but were later summoned to Iga by Todo Takatora, where they were appointed to command a troop of soldiers and given a stipend of 180,000 liters of rice. The Ueno-Shinobicho area is the site of many samurai residences stretching across the area south of Misujicho in Ueno Castle Town. The Akai Family Residence is located on the west side of Nakanotachimachi-dori Street, which runs through the castle town from north to south.