Kōchi Castle was begun in 1601 by Yamauchi Katsutoyo, who was granted Tosa Domain after the Battle of Sekigahara. Completed in 1611, it was meant to serve as the seat of power from which Katsutoyo could exert control over the isolated, unruly region that was Tosa. A large fire burned down much of the castle in 1727, but it was reconstructed between 1729 and 1753. While Meiji Reformation policies required the destruction of many structures from 1873 (including the san-no-maru and ni-no-maru quarters), most of the hon-maru survived intact. Today Kōchi-jō is one of the four original feudal-era castles of Shikoku, and among the twelve extant nationwide.