A classic yamashiro (mountain castle) set high up above the picturesque town of Tsuwano, Tsuwano-jō and its roots as a feudal fortress date back to 1295. Yoshimi Yoriyuki, the lord of Iwami Province (roughly corresponding to western Shimane-ken today), originally built the castle here in the Senboku (Warring States) era, and his family continued to rule the region as vassals of the Mōri clan for 14 generations. Following the Battle of Sekigahara when the Mōri clan was defeated and the Yoshimi family was forced to move with them to Hagi, the castle came under the rule of Sakazaki Naomori, then later the Kamei family, which controlled it for some 11 generations until the Meiji Restoration. The castle's tenshu (donjon) burned down following a lightning strike in 1686 and was never reconstructed. With the remaining castle structures having been torn down under the Meiji government, Tsuwano-jō is now little more than a ruin of stone foundations, albeit one with a stunning view over Tsuwano and the surrounding valley. The view here is of the former San-no-maru.