Miharujō is a lovely site for fans of castle ruins, perched atop of a steep hill, with an impressive cliff face to the rear. Remnants of Ishigaki are scattered about the small mountain and in some places it is not clear where the castle ruins end and the bear natural rock begins. At the foot of the mountain there is an Edo Period gate which was the entranceway to the Hankō (Domain School). Miharu prides itself on its cherry blossoms and the site is very pretty in spring. Brief History: Tamura Yoshiaki founded this castle around 1504. Toyotomi Hideyoshi dispossessed the Tamura Clan later in the Senoku Period and the territory came under the control of Gamo Ujisato, who controlled Aizu. After the Tokugawa Shogunate was established Katō Yoshiaki was in Aizu, and in 1627 he split of Miharu Domain for his younger brother, Katō Akitoki, but the next year there was a peasant uprising and so Matsumoto Nagatsuna, ruler of Nihonmatsu, took control. In 1644 Akita Akisue was installed as castellan and the Akita Clan governed until the Meiji Restoration.