partly built between the late Taishō era to the early Shōwa era. The tenshu was registered as a national treasure on 30 January 1934. The tenshu collapsed due to the destruction of its stone base during the 1948 Fukui earthquake. In 1955 the base was rebuilt using 70% of the original pillars and about 60% of the original beams by installing a reinforced concrete frame and piling the original stones around it before re-erecting the tenshu on top. At that time, the structure of the windows on the top floor was changed from sliding doors to push-up windows. The castle was designated an Important Cultural Property in 1950. A number of the castle gates also survive in private hands, including one at the temple of Kōzen-ji in Komatsu, Ishikawa and one at the temple of Renshō-ji in the city of Awara, Fukui. Investigations into its construction date The Maruoka Castle Research and Research Committee lead by (Junichi Yoshida from the Fukui University of Technology) was commissioned by the Board of Education of Sakai City to survey the castle. By dating the timber used in the construction of the tenshu from its rings, radiocarbon concentration, and oxygen isotope ratio, they reported after four years of investigations in March 2019 that most of the through pillars, which play a structurally important role, were cut down after 1626. Confusing matters was the observation that the architectural style of Maruoka's tenshu was considered outdated by the 1620s. This would indicate that if it had been built in 1576 by Shibata Katsutoyo as generally assumed, it would have been heavily reconstructed in the latter half of the 1620s (mostly likely in 1628) by the Honda clan following Honda Narishige being assigned ownership of the castle in 1613. In October 2019 the northeast exterior wall of the tenshu was damaged by an typhoon and were subsequently repaired by the Tanaka Shrine Co. Current status Maruoka Castle is one of just twelve castles in Japan which has managed to keep its original tenshu. The former castle grounds are now incorporated in the Kasumigajo Park, which contain some remnants of the ramparts and moats as well as a small museum that displays some arms, armour, and household items related to its former lords. The area is famed for its approximately 400 cherry blossom trees. An annual cherry blossom festival is held during the first three weeks of April