The castle was called Kishiwada Castle (岸和田城, Kishiwada-jō), or Chikiri Castle (千亀利城, Chikiri-jō) According to excavations , a mountain castle was built in the late 15th century, approximately 500m southeast of the site of the present-day Kishiwada-jo Castle. After 1408 the Hosokawa were Shugo (Governors) of upper and lower half provinces of Izumi Province, and in the early 16th century, the Kishiwada territory was controlled by the Matsuura, Shugodai (vice Governors) of Izumi province. In 1562, the lord of Kishiwada castle was Matsuura Tora, but the lordship changed to Matsuura Hikaru, also called Magohachiro, who later became Hizen no kami (Governor of Hizen Province). In 1584, Matsuura Munekiyo with Nakamura Kazuuji and 8,000 men were besieged by 30,000 men (Battle of Kishiwada), and the castle was rebuilt as the base of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's conquest of Kishu. For his military achievement, Matsuura Munekiyo was given additional territories and transferred to Ise Province. A five storied keep was erected by in 1597. Nobukatsu, ruler of , took possession of the castle in 1640 from Takatsuki. The Okabe family maintained its position for 13 generations (up to the Meiji Restoration). The castle's main tower was destroyed when struck by lightning in 1827, but was reconstructed in 1954, and is now also used as a folk museum.
The castle was called Kishiwada Castle (岸和田城, Kishiwada-jō), or Chikiri Castle (千亀利城, Chikiri-jō) According to excavations , a mountain castle was built in the late 15th century, approximately 500m southeast of the site of the present-day Kishiwada-jo Castle. In 1584, Matsuura Munekiyo with Nakamura Kazuuji and 8,000 men were besieged by 30,000 men (Battle of Kishiwada), and the castle was rebuilt as the base of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's conquest of Kishu. For his military achievement, Matsuura Munekiyo was given additional territories and transferred to Ise Province.