Nochiseyama Castle was built facing the sea in a strategic location atop Mt. Nochiseyama, near the bustling Tango Kaido trade route. It was originally constructed in 1522 by Takeda Motomitsu (1494–1551), the military governor of Wakasa Province. The castle complex included the official family residence at the base of the mountain and was the seat of power for successive lords of Wakasa until the construction of Obama Castle in the early 1600s.
The Takeda were a prominent military family that served the Muromachi shogunate and helped contribute to the flourishing of arts in the Wakasa region. Though the Takeda were appointed governors of Wakasa, they continued to reside in the capital of Kyoto, where they enjoyed close relationships with various nobles and people of culture, such as scholars and poets. When the Onin War (1467–1477) devastated Kyoto, the Takeda family moved to Wakasa. After the Nochiseyama Castle complex was completed, the Takeda invited many artists to visit. The guests brought refined Kyoto culture with them as they traveled along the Saba Kaido trade routes, which was also fostered at the Nochiseyama Castle complex by the Takeda family. For instance, it is recorded that renga poetry gatherings where poets from Kyoto would collaborate to create linked works on a set theme were often held at the Takeda family residence.
Though Nochiseyama Castle was abandoned after the construction of Obama Castle, some stone walls remain on the mountain and can be accessed by hiking trails. Foundation stones were discovered during excavations of the former Takeda family residence at the base of the mountain, and the site is being converted into a public park.
The Takeda clan who ruled Wakasa Province used to live in Kyoto until the Onin War also known as the Bunmei War and supported Muromachi Shogunage as an important military family. They also enjoyed a close relationship with the leading men of culture and court nobles in Kyoto and had a taste for arts and letters such as Waka, or Japanese poetry, and Renga, or Japanese poems composed by poets based on a certain theme observing determined form of poetry. After Motomitsu Takeda constructed the castle on Mt. Nochiseyama and began residing in Wakasa Province, many men of culture in Kyoto visited the Takeda clan for help, avoiding the disturbance of war in Kyoto. Renga poem reciting party was often held at their residence inviting renga poets from Kyoto.
In this way, men of culture with profound knowledge of sophisticated urban culture of Kyoto visited Wakasa region by way of Wakasa-kaido Road and came together in Nochiseyama Castle,,, from which the arts and letters spread throughout Wakasa region.
