Tanabe Castle Ruins

Tanabe Castle in Maizuru was built in 1582 for the poet-warrior Hosokawa Fujitaka. Though low-lying by castle standards, it became the site of one of history's more unusual sieges: in 1600, with his son away at Sekigahara, Fujitaka held off an army of 15,000 with only 500 men for 52 days. The emperor personally intervened to end the standoff, reportedly to protect Fujitaka's exceptional knowledge of classical poetry. Today the grounds are Maizuru Park, with a reconstructed main gate, original stone ramparts, and a museum above the gate displaying bullets and artifacts recovered from the site.