Otsuchi Castle Ruins

The ruins of Otsuchi Castle, which is familiar to the townspeople as a castle mountain, was the residence of the Otsuchi clan (actual height: 10,000 koku, economic power: 70,000 koku) for generations. It ruled this region for about 280 years, from the Middle Ages to the early Edo period, until the magistrate's office was established there. It is said that the castle's lord, ``Otsuchi Magohachiro Masasada,'' sent the famous salted salmon to Edo, where it was prized and praised as the ``nose-shaped salmon'' of the southern part of Japan. The castle was built along a 140-meter-high mountain sandwiched between the Otsuchi River and the Kozuchi River, and this typical mountain castle was designated as a historic site by Iwate Prefecture in 1992.