Shogi Castles for Beginners: The Mino and Yagura Shapes

The Japan Shogi Association (JSA) runs an online shogi school, and it has published the handout for lesson 12 of its beginner course, “攻め形を知ろう” (Learn the attacking formations), as a sample (PDF, in Japanese). The second half of the handout has eight board diagrams, each pairing a castle with an attacking formation. Four are Static Rook (居飛車, ibisha) examples and four are Ranging Rook (振り飛車, furibisha) examples.

This post takes three of those diagrams, the Mino, the high Mino and the Yagura, and lists the squares the king, golds and silvers stand on.

A castle is built for the king

The JSA’s basic guide to shogi (Japanese) says the game is won by the side that finally captures the opponent’s king. In practice nobody plays on until the capture. The game ends at checkmate, the point where the king will be taken next move whatever the defender plays. The same guide calls the king “the most important piece in shogi”.

A castle (囲い, kakoi) is a shape built around that king with golds and silvers. In each of the three diagrams in this post, a silver stands on a square right next to the king.

How squares are written, and the starting position

Squares are written the Japanese way, as in 5九. The number is the file, counted 1 to 9 from the right of the board, and the kanji numeral is the rank, counted 一 (1) to 九 (9) from the top. The first player, sente, sets up on ranks 七 to 九 (7 to 9), at the bottom.

The JSA guide gives two memory aids for the starting position: “rook on the right, bishop on the left”, and “on the back rank, from the middle outwards: gold, silver, knight, lance”. For sente that puts the king on 5九, golds on 4九 and 6九, silvers on 3九 and 7九, knights on 2九 and 8九, lances on 1九 and 9九, the rook on 2八, the bishop on 8八 and nine pawns along rank 七.

All three castles below are sente’s. Comparing them with this starting position shows which pieces have moved.

The Mino castle

The Mino castle (美濃囲い, Mino gakoi) appears in the diagram labelled “Central Rook, silver on 5六, with Mino”. Sente’s pieces in and around the castle are:

• King: 2八
• Silver: 3八
• Golds: 4九 and 6九
• Knight: 2九, lance: 1九
• Pawns: 4七, 3七, 2七 and 1六

The king has moved from 5九 to 2八, the square where the rook started. The rook itself now stands on 5八, on the central file.

The castle’s silver is on 3八, one square in front of its starting square 3九. Both golds are still on their starting squares, 4九 and 6九. The other silver is on 5六, where it is used for the attack.

The high Mino

In the diagram labelled “Fourth-file Rook, silver on 6六, with 高美濃 (high Mino)”, sente’s pieces are:

• King: 2八
• Silver: 3八
• Golds: 4九 and 4七
• Knight: 3七, lance: 1九
• Pawns: 4六, 3六, 2七 and 1六

The king on 2八, the silver on 3八 and the gold on 4九 are on the same squares as in the Mino diagram. The difference is the second gold, which has come up to 4七. The knight has jumped to 3七, and the pawns on the 3rd and 4th files have advanced to rank 六. The rook is on 6八 and the attacking silver on 6六.

The JSA school’s report on its May 2026 lectures, themed “囲いを学ぼう” (Let’s learn castles) (PDF, in Japanese), shows the Wednesday Ranging Rook class covering “Mino castle basics 1” one week and “Mino castle 2: high Mino” the next. The two are taught as a pair.

The Yagura castle

Among the Static Rook examples, the diagram labelled “Yagura with Rapid Silver” shows the Yagura castle (矢倉囲い, Yagura gakoi). Sente’s pieces are:

• King: 8八
• Golds: 7八 and 6七
• Silver: 7七
• Bishop: 6八
• Knight: 8九, lance: 9九
• Pawns: 9七, 8七, 7六, 6六 and 5六

The king has moved from 5九 to 8八, the square where the bishop started. The bishop has gone to 6八. The castle’s silver is on 7七, two squares in front of its starting square 7九.

The golds are placed quite differently from the Mino. In the Mino both golds were on the back rank. In the Yagura they are on 7八 and 6七, so one of them has come up to rank 七. The pawns on the 7th, 6th and 5th files have also advanced to rank 六.

The rook is still on its starting square, 2八. The other silver is on 4六, used for the attack.

What the three diagrams share

Side by side, the three diagrams have a few things in common.

The king sits on the opposite side of the board from the rook. In the Mino and high Mino the rook has moved to 5八 or 6八 and the king is on the right, on 2八. In the Yagura the rook stays on 2八 and the king is on the left, on 8八.

Of the two silvers, one is part of the castle and the other goes out to attack. The handout says that in Static Rook “the attacking formation is decided by where the silver is”, and that in Ranging Rook it “changes with which Ranging Rook you play”. Every diagram in it is drawn as a castle and an attacking formation together.

How golds and silvers move is in How Shogi Pieces Move, and the mating shapes made with a gold are in Basic Checkmate Shapes in Shogi. Chess has its own way of tucking the king away, covered in Castling Rules.

The castle depends on the opponent

The May lecture report says that rather than forcing your own ideal shape on the opponent, your castle and your attack change in response to the opponent’s setup and aims. It adds that the lectures did not stop at the shapes themselves, and explained why to choose a given castle when the opponent plays a certain way, including how the defence connects to the attack.

Besides the Mino and the high Mino, that month’s curriculum lists the 銀冠, 穴熊 and 金無双 castles, the Yagura for games where both players choose Static Rook, and the other castles used in those games.

About Mindsports

Mindsports is an app with 12 mind sports, including shogi, chess, Go, mahjong and bridge, for iPhone, iPad and Android. The shogi beginner lessons teach the rules through tap-to-answer quizzes and then let you practise in real game positions. The CPU runs from Lv.1 to Lv.50, one level up per win and one down per loss. During a game, Undo takes a move back, and Review lets you step through a finished game one move at a time. A shogi game against the CPU can be left part way and picked up again from the Continue card on the home screen. The games and beginner lessons are free, with ads. A one-time “Unlock All” purchase opens all advanced lessons and removes the ads.

How to use the app is in Getting Started with StudyX Mindsports, and two-player games on one device are in Two Players on One Device.