Aoba Castle
is a Japanese castle located in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. Throughout the Edo period, Aoba Castle was home to the Date clan, daimyō of Sendai Domain. The castle was also known as or as . In 2003, the castle ruins were designated a National Historic Site. Design Aoba Castle is located on a plateau overlooking the city of Sendai on the opposing bank of the Hirose River. The site is protected by cliffs to the south and east, and by a deep forest to the west. This forest was strictly guarded in the Edo period and is a rare survivor of the original virgin forests in Honshū. The area is now managed as a botanical garden by Tohoku University. The castle hill is partially surrounded by the Hirose River to the north and east, and a steep slope protects the south. The Honmaru (inner bailey) is about 115 meters high, and is a roughly square-shaped area 250 meters long surrounded by stone walls, in some places 15 meters high. It contained the foundation for the tenshu, (equivalent to the main keep of European castles); however, only the foundation base was ever built. Instead the Honmaru was protected by four 3-story