Leaf of reconstructed Main Gate (Otemon) of Kubota Castle in Akita, Japan. Castle was founded in 1603 by Satake Yoshinobu

---

Satake Yoshinobu was moved from the Mito area to Akita in 1602 after the Battle of Sekigahara. He first moved into Minato Castle, but it was small with poor defenses so he built Kubota Castle in 1604. It's said that Satake never built a main keep nor any 3 level yagura so that he wouldn't attract the ire of the Tokugawa. Another theory is that he just couldn't afford an extravagant main keep. Even so, the castle had eight 2 story corner yagura and a large palace. Most of the buildings burned down in a fire in 1880. The Satake continued to rule until the Meiji Restoration.

---

Size: 1970px × 3099px
Location: Akita City, Akita Prefecture, Japan
Photo credit: © Ivan Marchuk / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No

Keywords: akita, architecture, asia, attraction, castle, citadel, city, cityscape, culture, defense, defensive, destinations, east, entrance, fort, fortification, gate, heritage, historic, historical, history, japan, japanese, journey, landmark, leaf, military, oriental, protection, reconstructed, samurai, siege, sightseeing, tourism, town, townscape, travel, view, war, warrior, wooden