Set prominently on a hill facing the Seto Inland Sea in what is now southern Hyōgo Prefecture, Akashi Castle was hastily built between 1617 and 1619 by Ogasawara Tadazane. Overlooking the main Chūgoku Kaidō (east-west road) between Osaka and Kyūshū, the castle played an important role in maintaining stability and security against potentially hostile daimyō during the Edo period. The original castle featured four yagura (defensive towers) set at each corner of the walls, but an intended donjon was never built, despite the stone foundations for one being completed. Following the Meiji Restoration, the northeastern Ushitora-yagura and northwestern Inui-yagura were torn down (1881 and 1901 respectively), with only the Hitsujisaru-yagura (left) and Tatsumi-yagura (right) surviving to the modern era.