The castle at Nihonmatsu is in fact comprised of a pair of fortresses: one at the foot of a mountain and the other an older ruin set atop it. The mountaintop castle was first established sometime after the area passed to the Hatakeyama clan in 1341. After a number of clashes between Hatakeyama Yoshitsugu and Date Masamune, the latter laid siege to the site in 1586, upon which Yoshitsugu set fire to the castle and fled west to Aizu. The lower castle at Nihonmatsu-jō was built and held by allies of the Date clan, with the Niwa clan controlling it from 1643. The castle was dismantled in 1872 under the Meiji government. A large gate, the Minowa-mon, was reconstructed at the lower castle in 1982, with the entire site given restoration work from 1993-95.