[1] Takato Castle is located on a hill in the former Takatō Town on the eastern edge of central Ina Valley in southern Nagano Prefecture.

Deep trenches, earthen ramparts and stone walls in concentric rings form the defensive structures in a style typical of construction under Takeda Shingen.

[2] Takatō Yoritsugu relied on support from his allies, Ogasawara Nagatoki and Tozawa Yorichika, however, they failed to come to his aid.

However, after the assassination of Nobunaga in the Honnō-ji incident, the area came under the control of Tokugawa Ieyasu, who assigned it to Hoshina Masanao.

The Hoshina were replaced by the Torii clan from 1636-1689, until the assignment of the domain to Naitō Kiyokazu, whose descendants continued to rule to the Meiji restoration.

Following the establishment of the Meiji government and the abolition of the han system, the remaining structures of the castle were dismantled, and its surviving gates donated to nearby temples or were sold off to private owners.

On the site of the castle, the oldest remaining building is the former han school, the Shintokukan (進徳館), built by the last daimyō of Takatō, Naitō Yorinao.