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The First-Timer's Japan Guide

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All Events Places

Castle

Hikone Castle

Seventeenth-century castle built by the Ii clan near Lake Biwa with defensive double moats, recognized as one of Japan's best-preserved castles.

Hikone · Shiga

Castle

Inuyama Castle

Castle with a watchtower believed to be Japan's oldest tenshu, dating to the 1580s and rebuilt multiple times before being seized after the Meiji Restoration.

Inuyama · Aichi

Castle

Kakegawa Castle

Kakegawa Castle served as a strategic fortress for the Tokugawa vassal clans along the Tokaido highway connecting Kyoto and eastern Japan.

Kakegawa · Shizuoka

All Events Places

Castle

Hikone Castle

Seventeenth-century castle built by the Ii clan near Lake Biwa with defensive double moats, recognized as one of Japan's best-preserved castles.

Hikone · Shiga

Castle

Inuyama Castle

Castle with a watchtower believed to be Japan's oldest tenshu, dating to the 1580s and rebuilt multiple times before being seized after the Meiji Restoration.

Inuyama · Aichi

Castle

Kakegawa Castle

Kakegawa Castle served as a strategic fortress for the Tokugawa vassal clans along the Tokaido highway connecting Kyoto and eastern Japan.

Kakegawa · Shizuoka

Castle

Sunpu Castle

Historic castle rebuilt by Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1585 on former Imagawa clan fortifications, now Sunpu Park with reconstructed towers and gates.

Shizuoka

Castle

Maruoka Castle

Maruoka Castle, known as the Mist Castle, features a historic tenshu claimed to be the oldest castle keep in Japan and now overlooks a public park popular for cherry blossoms.

Sakai · Fukui

Castle

Kanazawa Castle

Built in 1580 and ruled by the Maeda clan for 14 generations, this castle's reconstructed structures reflect its appearance in the 1850s.

Kanazawa · Ishikawa

Castle

Matsumoto Castle

Historic castle featuring distinctive black exterior known as the Crow Castle and unique architecture of five external stories and six internal floors.

Matsumoto · Nagano

Castle

Odawara Castle

Late fifteenth-century stronghold that served as the seat of the Hōjō clan, rebuilt in the 1960s as a museum and observation point.

Odawara · Kanagawa

Castle

Remains of Kawagoe Castle

Kawagoe Castle, originally built in 1457 as a defensive fortress, survives through its preserved Honmaru Goten residence and exhibits showcasing feudal-era architecture and history.

Kawagoe · Saitama

Castle

Mito Castle Ruins

Medieval castle ruins in Mito showcasing the prominence of the Tokugawa clan's Mito branch during the Edo period, with remaining moats, gates, and adjacent Kodokan school structure.

Mito · Ibaraki

Castle

Aizu-Wakamatsu Castle

Also known as Tsuruga Castle, this 14th century Fukushima fortress was destroyed in the 1868 Boshin War and later reconstructed as a museum.

Aizuwakamatsu · Fukushima

Castle

Aoba Castle (Sendai Castle)

Fortress without a traditional keep, reflecting Tokugawa political order and built as a luxurious residential palace to demonstrate authority and wealth.

Sendai · Miyagi

Historic Site

Taga Castle Ruins

An ancient fortress built in 724 CE that served as the northern capital of the Yamato Empire and administrative center for Mutsu Province.

Tagajo · Miyagi

Historic Site

Morioka Castle Ruins

Castle ruins built in 1597 at a strategic river confluence, serving as a northern sentinel monitoring trade routes for over 700 years.

Morioka · Iwate

Castle

Ne Castle

A reconstructed fortress in Aomori Prefecture built in 1334 that controlled regional trade routes and served as a base for the Southern Court.

Hachinohe · Aomori

Castle

Hirosaki Castle

A Japanese castle built in 1611 that remains the only surviving Edo-period castle keep in the entire Tohoku region, originally featuring a five-story tower.

Hirosaki · Aomori

Castle

Matsumae Castle

Japan's northernmost and final traditional Japanese castle, constructed 1850-1854 in Hokkaido as a strategic defense against foreign pressure during the late Tokugawa period.

Matsumae · Hokkaido

Historic Site

Nemuro Peninsula Chashi Site

Ainu fortifications on Nemuro Peninsula's windswept cliffs, built between the 16th and 18th centuries and ranked number one among Japan's 100 castles.

Nemuro · Hokkaido