Sometimes referred to as Maizuru-jō (舞鶴城), Kōfu Castle was built in 1583 after the defeat of the Takeda family by Tokugawa Ieyasu. Although the local daimyō changed throughout the Edo era, Kōfu-jō remained the most powerful castle in the Kantō area behind Edo-jō. Most of the castle was dismantled in 1877, with the Yakata-kuruwa and Shimizu-kuruwa then torn down in 1897 to make room for Kōfu's new rail station. The southwestern enclosure of Gakuya-kuruwa was later occupied by the local government offices and an assembly hall. Today a good amount of the walls remain, along with two restored turrets and part of the moat. The picture here is of the Hon-maru enclosure at the top of the site.