Maruoka Castle is also known as Kasumi-ga-jo (Mist Castle) as the legend goes that should an enemy ever approach the castle, a thick mist will appear, and hide the castle to protect it. Maruoka was built on a small, round hill, in the middle of a large plain in Sakai, Fukui Prefecture, by Shibata Katsutoyo, nephew of General Shibata Katsuie, by order of Oda Nobunaga in 1576. The castle served to watch over the Hokuriku Do, an important highway between Echizen (Fukui Prefecture) and Mino (Gifu Prefecture).