Hikone Castle

Hikone Castle, also called Konki Castle, is a hilltop castle in Hikone, Shiga, built for the Ii clan. Its keep is one of the five castle keeps in Japan designated National Treasures, with those of Himeji, Matsumoto, Inuyama and Matsue.

History

Work began in 1604 and went on for about 20 years; the castle town was completed in 1622 under Ii Naotsugu and Ii Naotaka. In its day the castle was a large complex with three rings of moats, an artificial river (today's Seri River) and the town around it. The Ii clan were its lords.

The keep was designated a National Treasure on 29 March 1952. The area inside the middle moat, where the stone-walled layout survives almost intact, became a Historic Site in 1951 and a Special Historic Site in 1956. The castle is on Japan's tentative list for World Heritage status.

Highlights

The keep is an original three-tier building, 20.5 metres high including its 5-metre stone base. Inside, the stairs climb at up to 62 degrees. From each gate, about 140 deliberately uneven stone steps rise some 50 metres to the inner citadel, a layout meant to slow attackers.

Several turrets are Important Cultural Properties. The inner and middle moats survive, as does Genkyu-en, the garden of the lords' lower residence. The Hikone Castle Museum stands in a reconstruction of the Omote Goten, the domain's government building in the Edo period.