The site of the Koga-machi Kokakumon gate

The area in Aizu-Wakamatsu just north of Tsurugajo Castle now known as Sakae-machi near the City Hall used to be called Koga-machi. This is where you can find the stone walls of the only remaining Kokakumon gate to the castle. Originally there were 16 such gates surrounding the castle. Back in feudal times, the Aizu clan samurai built their living quarters between these gates and the castle. (The ordinary townfolk had to build their houses outside the gates).

During the Boshin Civil War, there was a fierce battle around this gate as the anti-shogunate forces entering Aizu-Wakamatsu from the north tried to storm the castle.

Around 1888, a large bell which had been removed from Tsurugajo Castle was placed at the Koga-machi Kokakumon gate site and remained there until 1945 when it was returned to a site inside the castle grounds. Some local people even today still call the Koga-machi Kokakumon gate the Kanetsukido which means "ring the bell place".