A castle which was thought to have been built by Mizukoshi Katsushige at the command of his lord Jinbou Nagamoto, Ecchuu-no-kami, in 1543, but recent excavation suggests that it may be have built before, during the Muromachi Shogunate (1336 - 1573). The castle was located pretty much at the center of Ecchuu, at a strategic juncture between Hida Province and the North-Central (Hokuriku) Road, and for that reason was a hotly-contested territory by the Shiina Clan of Matsukura Castle, the Uesugi Clan of Echigo, and the Ikkou-ikki.

In 1582, Sassa Narimasa of the Oda Clan became master of the castle, and he performed large-scale repairs. After Oda's death, Toyotomi Hideyoshi laid siege to the castle in 1585 with 10,000 troops and took the castle from Narimasa. Thereafter the Maeda Clan became masters of the castle, but large parts of it was destroyed by fire in 1609. The castle was abandoned but reclaimed again by Maeda Toshitsugu, who founded Toyama-han and made Toyama Castle his main castle. The castle was home to 13 generations of the Maeda Clan thereafter.

The castle was abandoned again in the Meiji Period. The current structure was rebuilt after World War II and is now part of a park at the center of Toyama City.