The 100 Fine Castles of Japan

1Nemuro Peninsula Chashi Sites根室半島チャシ跡群Hokkaido

Twenty-four Ainu chashi, enclosures cut into the sea cliffs of Japan's easternmost peninsula and defended by dry moats, listed together as one national historic site. Nothing is built: you walk out to grass banks above the Pacific, and the one most visitors reach is Onnemoto, near Cape Nosappu.

Getting there: Bus from JR Nemuro Station towards Cape Nosappu, about 35 min, then about 20 min on foot to the Onnemoto site. Best: June to September, when the grass is walkable and the ground is clear of snow.

2Goryokaku五稜郭Hokkaido

Japan's star-shaped Western fort, finished in 1866 to hold the Hakodate magistrate's office, and the last battlefield of the Boshin War. The earth ramparts and water moat are original; the magistrate's office was rebuilt in timber and opened on July 29, 2010, though only about a third of it, because fire regulations capped the reconstruction at 1,000 square metres.

Getting there: Tram from Hakodate Station to Goryokaku-koen-mae, then about 15 min on foot. Best: Late April to early May for the moat-side cherry trees, seen best from the 107 m Goryokaku Tower. Our hakodate guide

3Matsumae Castle松前城Hokkaido

The northernmost castle built under the shogunate, completed in 1855 against the threat of foreign ships. Its keep survived the Meiji purge and the war, then burned in a 1949 fire and was rebuilt in concrete in 1960; the honmaru main gate beside it is the real thing, an Important Cultural Property. Some 10,000 cherry trees of around 250 varieties stretch the blossom season here across two months.

Best: Late April to late May, across the long Matsumae blossom season.

5Nejo Castle根城Aomori

A Nanbu clan stronghold founded in 1334 and abandoned in 1627, now an open field of earth ramparts, dry moats and wells. Excavation was thorough enough that the lord's hall, stables, a smithy and storehouses have been rebuilt in timber on their own post-holes, so you can walk through a medieval compound rather than read a sign about one.

6Morioka Castle盛岡城Iwate

Granite terraces stacked above the Kitakami River, begun in 1598 by Nanbu Nobunao. Every building came down after 1871 and nothing has been rebuilt, which leaves one of the finest stone-wall systems in northern Japan standing bare in a city park.

Getting there: About 20 min walk from JR Morioka Station, or a short ride on the Den-den-mushi loop bus. Our morioka guide

7Tagajo多賀城Miyagi

Not a castle but the walled headquarters the Nara court built in 724 to govern and garrison the north, and the political centre of Tohoku for three centuries. The government compound survives as excavated platforms, and the outer south gate was rebuilt in timber in 2023 with its earthen walls following in 2024, for the site's 1,300th anniversary; the Tagajo stele nearby became a National Treasure in 2024.

Getting there: About 10 min walk from JR Kokufu-Tagajo Station on the Tohoku Main Line.

8Sendai Castle仙台城Miyagi

Date Masamune's castle of 1601, set on the Aobayama bluff about 100 m above the city and never attacked. Nothing built survives: the main gate and its flanking turret, both National Treasures before the war, burned in the 1945 air raid, so what you get is stone walls, a restored turret at the foot, and the bronze equestrian Masamune looking out over Sendai.

Our sendai guide

9Kubota Castle久保田城Akita

A castle built almost without stone: the Satake clan raised earth ramparts instead, and never built a keep. The Omonogashira guardhouse is original, the main gate was rebuilt in timber, and a corner turret with a viewing deck was put up in 1989 on the site of the old one.

Getting there: About 10 min walk from JR Akita Station to Senshu Park. Our akita guide

10Yamagata Castle山形城Yamagata

A flat castle of concentric moats laid out by Mogami Yoshiaki around 1600, big enough that the city grew inside it. The east gate of the second enclosure was rebuilt in timber, as were the Ichimonji gate and its bridge; there is no keep, and the grounds around them are free.

Getting there: About 10 min walk from JR Yamagata Station to Kajo Park. Our yamagata guide

11Nihonmatsu Castle二本松城Fukushima

The Minowa gate and its attached turret, rebuilt in timber in 1982, stand at the foot; the keep base and stone walls up the hill behind them were reconstructed in the 1990s, and no keep sits on them. The castle fell to imperial forces in 1868 after a boy corps was sent to defend it, and a monument to them stands by the gate.

Best: October and November, during the Nihonmatsu chrysanthemum doll exhibition.

12Aizu-Wakamatsu Castle会津若松城Fukushima

Known locally as Tsuruga-jo, the castle that held out for a month in the 1868 Boshin War before surrendering. The five-tier keep is a 1965 concrete reconstruction housing a museum, and in March 2011 it was re-roofed in red tiles to match the Edo-period original, the only castle keep in Japan with them.

Our aizuwakamatsu guide

13Shirakawa-Komine Castle白河小峰城Fukushima

The three-tier turret that served as this castle's keep was rebuilt in timber in 1991 from Edo drawings, and the front gate followed in 1994, making it one of the earliest faithful wooden reconstructions in Japan. The 2011 earthquake brought down parts of the stone walls and shut the main enclosure; it reopened on April 19, 2015.

Getting there: About 10 min walk from JR Shirakawa Station.

14Mito Castle水戸城Ibaraki

An earth-built castle of the Tokugawa branch house that produced the last shogun, with no stone walls and no keep. What survives is the Edo-period Yakui gate, now inside a high school's grounds, and the Kodokan domain academy, an Important Cultural Property; the main gate was rebuilt in timber and opened in February 2020.

Our mito guide

15Ashikaga Clan Hall足利氏館Tochigi

A square moated residence of the Kamakura-period Ashikaga family, the clan that later supplied 15 shoguns, and a fortified house rather than a castle: no walls, no tower. The temple Banna-ji has occupied it since the 12th century, and its main hall of 1299 is a National Treasure.

Getting there: About 10 min walk from Ashikaga Station on the JR Ryomo Line.

16Minowa Castle箕輪城Gunma

A 47-hectare hill castle of 1512 that the Takeda, the Hojo and finally Ii Naomasa each took over and rebuilt, abandoned in 1598. It is earthworks, dry moats and horse-yard enclosures on a river terrace, with one gate, the Kurumadashi west gate, rebuilt in timber to show the scale.

17Kanayama Castle金山城Gunma

A mountain castle of 1469 on a 235.8 m peak above Ota, also called Nitta Kanayama. Excavation here overturned the idea that castles in the Kanto plain were built only of earth: stone-faced ramparts, paved approaches and two stone-lined ponds, the Sun Pond and the Moon Pond, have been uncovered and restored.

18Hachigata Castle鉢形城Saitama

A Hojo stronghold of 1476 on the cliffs where the Fukazawa River meets the Arakawa, which held out for a month against Hideyoshi's army in 1590. Earth ramparts, moats and a partly rebuilt gate and wooden bridge remain, with a history museum on site explaining the layout.

Getting there: About 20 min walk from Yorii Station, or a bus to Hachigata-jo Rekishikan-mae and 5 min on foot.

19Kawagoe Castle川越城Saitama

Almost nothing is left of the castle itself, but part of its 1848 honmaru palace survives, one of a handful of castle palaces still standing anywhere in Japan, and you can walk its corridors and tatami rooms. It is a Saitama prefectural cultural property, a walk from the Kurazukuri warehouse street.

Our saitama guide

20Sakura Castle佐倉城Chiba

A castle built entirely of earth, with not one stone wall, guarding the eastern approach to Edo. The moats and ramparts are intact and free to walk; the National Museum of Japanese History stands on the second enclosure, and the army barracks that replaced the castle in the Meiji era left their own remains behind.

Getting there: About 15 min walk from Keisei Sakura Station.

21Edo Castle江戸城Tokyo

The shogunate's own castle and now the Imperial Palace, entered through the free East Gardens. The 1638 keep burned in the great fire of 1657 and was never rebuilt, so you climb an empty stone base the size of a building; the Fujimi turret, the Hyakunin guardhouse and the Otemon gate are the surviving pieces.

Getting there: 5 min walk from Otemachi Station to the Otemon gate; the East Gardens are closed on Mondays and Fridays. Our tokyo guide

22Hachioji Castle八王子城Tokyo

Hojo Ujiteru's mountain castle, stormed and taken in a single day on July 24, 1590, with its garrison away defending Odawara. The climb passes restored stone steps to the Goshuden residence terrace, where a bridge and gate have been rebuilt, and continues to the ridge forts above; there is a guidance centre at the foot and no admission.

23Odawara Castle小田原城Kanagawa

The Hojo clan's base, ringed by an outer earthwork line that enclosed the whole town, traces of which still run through the hills behind it. The three-tier keep is a 1960 concrete reconstruction with a museum inside; the Tokiwagi gate, Akagane gate and Umadashi gate around it were rebuilt in timber and are the more convincing buildings.

Getting there: About 10 min walk from JR and Odakyu Odawara Station. Our hakone guide

24Takeda Clan Hall武田氏館Yamanashi

Takeda Shingen ran Kai province from this walled residence, built in 1519 and never given a keep; the saying was that people, not stone walls, were the castle. Takeda Shrine occupies the main compound today, and the water moats, earth ramparts and a small keep base survive around it.

Getting there: Bus from JR Kofu Station to Takeda Jinja, about 8 min. Our kofu guide

25Kofu Castle甲府城Yamanashi

The stone-built castle the Toyotomi and then the Tokugawa put up to replace the Takeda residence across town, split in two by the railway line in 1903. The Inari turret was rebuilt in timber in 2004 and the Kurogane gate in 2013; the keep base is climbable and looks straight at Mount Fuji on a clear day.

Getting there: About 5 min walk from JR Kofu Station to Maizuru Castle Park. Our kofu guide

26Matsushiro Castle松代城Nagano

Built by Takeda Shingen in 1560 as Kaizu Castle, the forward base for his campaigns against Uesugi Kenshin at Kawanakajima, and later the Sanada family's seat. The Taikomon gate, the walls, moats and earthworks were reconstructed and opened in 2004; the grounds are free, and the old samurai quarter around them is still intact.

27Ueda Castle上田城Nagano

Sanada Masayuki's castle of 1583, which beat off far larger Tokugawa armies twice. Three Edo-period turrets survive, clad in the dark boarding used to waterproof them and registered as Nagano prefectural treasures; the gate tower between two of them was rebuilt in 1994, and the keep was never replaced.

Getting there: About 12 min walk from JR and Shinano Railway Ueda Station.

28Komoro Castle小諸城Nagano

Japan's only well-known ana-jiro, a castle that sits lower than the town it defended, using the gorges cut by Mount Asama's ash flows as its moats. Two original gates, the Otemon and the Sannomon, are Important Cultural Properties, and the keep base in Kaikoen park has been empty since fire took the tower in 1626.

Getting there: The Sannomon is beside Komoro Station; the Otemon is a few minutes' walk on the other side of the tracks.

29Matsumoto Castle松本城Nagano

Black-walled five-tier keep that Matsumoto City dates to 1593–94, the oldest five-tier, six-floor keep of the 12 originals, built for gunfire with 115 arrow and gun ports. The black lacquer is renewed every autumn, so parts of the exterior sit behind scaffolding from late August to October while the interior stays open.

Getting there: 20 min walk from JR Matsumoto Station, or about 10 min on the Town Sneaker loop bus. Visitor guide · Our matsumoto guide

30Takato Castle高遠城Nagano

A Takeda hill castle reduced to earth ramparts, dry moats and one relocated gate, and famous now for what grows on it: 1,500 Takato-kohigan cherry trees, a small deep-pink variety found nowhere else in this concentration. Outside the blossom fortnight it is a quiet park with good moat lines.

Best: Early to mid-April, when the Takato-kohigan cherries open.

31Shibata Castle新発田城Niigata

The front gate and a two-tier corner turret are original Edo buildings and Important Cultural Properties, the only surviving castle architecture in Niigata. The three-tier turret rebuilt in 2004 carries three shachi fish on a T-shaped roof, a combination found on no other castle in Japan, but it stands inside a Ground Self-Defense Force camp and cannot be entered.

Open April to November only (to 17:00, and to 16:30 in November); closed for the winter. The reconstructed three-tier turret sits on Self-Defense Force land and is viewable from outside only; the Tatsumi turret next to it can be entered.

32Kasugayama Castle春日山城Niigata

Uesugi Kenshin's mountain base, abandoned in 1607 and never built over, so the whole ridge is still cut into terraces, dry moats and gate mouths. The Bishamondo hall where Kenshin is said to have prayed has been rebuilt near the summit; everything else is earth, and the climb from the foot takes about 40 minutes.

33Takaoka Castle高岡城Toyama

Maeda Toshinaga built it in 1609 and the one-castle-per-province order closed it in 1615, after six years. The buildings went, but the wide water moats and every enclosure but the marsh survived intact, which is why the site is a national historic site occupied today by a park, a zoo and the city museum.

Getting there: About 15 min walk from JR Takaoka Station. Our toyama guide

34Nanao Castle七尾城Ishikawa

A Hatakeyama mountain castle spread over a 300 m ridge and its side spurs, besieged and taken by Uesugi Kenshin in 1577, who wrote a poem about the view. The draw is the stonework: the main enclosure is held up by five stacked tiers of wall, and most of the other enclosures keep theirs too.

35Kanazawa Castle金沢城Ishikawa

The Maeda lords' castle, burned down so often that the survivors are the fireproof ones: the Ishikawa gate, the Sanjukken storehouse and the Tsurumaru warehouse, all Important Cultural Properties, with white lead roof tiles and plastered walls. The Hishi turret and the 50-bay storehouse were rebuilt in timber in 2001 and the Nezumita gate in 2020, using Edo joinery.

Getting there: Across the road from Kenrokuen; 15 min by Kanazawa loop bus from Kanazawa Station. Visitor guide · Our kanazawa guide

36Maruoka Castle丸岡城Fukui

A small two-tier original keep roofed with stone tiles instead of clay, dated by a 2019 study to around 1628. It collapsed in the 1948 Fukui earthquake and was reassembled in 1955 using about 80 percent of its original material.

Under a seismic and roof repair from March 2026 to about November 2027 (Sakai City). The keep is scaffolded and was closed September 1–18, 2026; it reopened September 19 with some floors restricted and views blocked. Check the city's monthly schedule before going.

Getting there: About 20 min by Keifuku bus from Awara-Onsen Station (Hokuriku Shinkansen), or about 60 min from Fukui Station. Our fukui guide

37Ichijodani Castle一乗谷城Fukui

The Asakura clan's valley capital, burned by Oda Nobunaga in 1573 and then buried and forgotten, which is why 278 hectares of it survive as a special historic site. A block of the town, houses, gates, wells and garden walls, has been rebuilt full size on the excavated foundations, and four of its gardens are Special Places of Scenic Beauty; the mountain castle itself is a walk above the valley floor.

Getting there: Bus from JR Fukui Station to Fukugen-machinami, about 30 min, or the Echizen-Ono line to Ichijodani Station and 20 min on foot. Our fukui guide

38Iwamura Castle岩村城Gifu

One of Japan's three great mountain castles, with Takatori and Bitchu-Matsuyama, and the one with the story: it was held in the 1570s by a woman, Otsuya no Kata, who lost it to Nobunaga. Nothing stands on the mountain, only tiers of stone wall, enclosures and wells; the lord's residence at the foot has been rebuilt and is where the climb starts.

39Gifu Castle岐阜城Gifu

Oda Nobunaga's base from 1567, on the 329 m summit of Mount Kinka above the Nagara River, where he began using the seal that declared he would rule the realm. The white tower on top is a concrete build of 1956 with no documented original to copy; the real interest is below, where excavation has uncovered his mountain-foot residence and its ponds.

Getting there: Ropeway from Gifu Park, about 3 min, then about 8 min on foot to the tower. Our gifu guide

40Yamanaka Castle山中城Shizuoka

The Hojo clan's earthwork castle guarding the Hakone pass, overrun in half a day in 1590 and never rebuilt, which froze its defences exactly as they were. Mishima City turfed the ribbed and waffle-patterned dry moats so the grid reads clearly from the path; there is no stone, nothing standing, and no admission.

Getting there: Bus from JR Mishima Station towards Motohakone, about 30 min to Yamanaka-jo-ato.

41Sunpu Castle駿府城Shizuoka

Tokugawa Ieyasu's retirement castle, from which he ran the country as retired shogun. The Tatsumi turret, east gate and Hitsujisaru turret have been rebuilt in timber around the moat; the keep base was excavated between 2016 and February 2020, and the dig, including a Toyotomi-era base found underneath, is open to walk through.

Getting there: About 15 min walk from JR Shizuoka Station. Our shizuoka guide

42Kakegawa Castle掛川城Shizuoka

The keep was rebuilt in timber in 1994, which the castle calls Japan's first full-scale wooden keep reconstruction, and it shows: plaster, joinery and stairs instead of concrete and a lift. The palace beside it is an original Edo building and an Important Cultural Property, one of very few castle palaces left anywhere.

Getting there: About 7 min walk from JR Kakegawa Station on the Tokaido Shinkansen. Our shizuoka guide

43Inuyama Castle犬山城Aichi

Three-tier original keep on a bluff above the Kiso River, held by the Naruse family and, until 2004, the only privately owned castle in Japan. There is no reservation system, and on weekends and in blossom season the queue to climb it can pass an hour.

Getting there: 20 min walk from Meitetsu Inuyama Station (west exit); Meitetsu from Nagoya takes about 25 min. Our nagoya guide

44Nagoya Castle名古屋城Aichi

The 1945 air raid took the largest keep in Japan; the replacement is a 1959 steel-and-concrete copy and it has been shut to visitors since 2018 while the city works on a timber version. What is open is better than that sounds: the Hommaru Palace, finished in timber in 2018 with 1,047 painted panels, plus three original turrets and three original gates.

The keep has been closed to entry since 2018 and the castle's own site still states you cannot go inside it, with no reopening date given (checked September 20, 2026). The grounds, turrets, treasure hall and Hommaru Palace are open 9:00 to 16:30.

Getting there: 5 min walk from Shiyakusho Station on the Meijo subway line; admission ¥500. Visitor guide · Our nagoya guide

45Okazaki Castle岡崎城Aichi

Tokugawa Ieyasu was born here in 1543, which is the reason to come. The three-tier keep is a 1959 concrete reconstruction with a museum inside, and the original fabric is the stone walls and dry moats of the enclosures around it, in a park that is one of the region's busiest cherry-blossom sites.

Getting there: About 10 min walk from Higashi-Okazaki Station on the Meitetsu Nagoya line.

46Nagashino Castle長篠城Aichi

A small river-fork castle famous for the siege of 1575 that set up the battle of Nagashino, and for Torii Sune'emon, the messenger who slipped out for help and was executed in sight of the walls. What is there is earth: ramparts, a deep dry moat and a well, with a museum on the site telling the story.

Getting there: About 7 min walk from Nagashinojo Station on the JR Iida Line.

47Iga-Ueno Castle伊賀上野城Mie

Todo Takatora's stone wall is the point: 29.7 m from footing stone to coping and 368 m long, among the highest in Japan. The white three-tier tower above it is not a reconstruction of anything that stood here; a member of parliament, Kawasaki Katsu, had it built in timber in 1935, which at least makes it a real wooden building.

Getting there: About 10 min walk from Uenoshi Station on the Iga Line; admission ¥600. Our tsu guide

48Matsusaka Castle松阪城Mie

Gamo Ujisato's castle of 1588, stripped of every building but left with terrace after terrace of rough-stacked stone wall, unrailed and free to walk at any hour. The scholar Motoori Norinaga's house was moved into the grounds, and the old guards' quarter of thatched samurai houses runs along the edge of the site.

Getting there: About 15 min walk from JR and Kintetsu Matsusaka Station. Our tsu guide

49Odani Castle小谷城Shiga

The Azai clan's mountain castle on 495 m Mount Odani, where Azai Nagamasa and Oichi, Nobunaga's sister, met their end when it fell in 1573. The ridge still carries the sequence of enclosures, dry moats and early stone walls; the walk up from the guidance centre takes about an hour, and there is nothing built at the top.

50Hikone Castle彦根城Shiga

Hilltop original keep completed in 1606 above Lake Biwa, reached by about 140 stone steps laid deliberately uneven to slow attackers. The ¥1,000 ticket includes Genkyuen, the lord's strolling garden below the castle.

Getting there: 15 min walk from JR Hikone Station, then about 10 min uphill from the Omotemon gate to the keep. Our otsu guide

51Azuchi Castle安土城Shiga

Oda Nobunaga's castle, the first in Japan built around a decorated tower meant to be seen, stood about six years and burned in 1582 days after his death. A stone stairway about 180 m long and 6 m wide runs dead straight up the hill to an empty keep base; the temple Sokenji, which still owns the mountain, charges ¥700.

Getting there: About 25 min walk from JR Azuchi Station on the Biwako Line.

52Kannonji Castle観音寺城Shiga

The Rokkaku clan's mountain castle on Mount Kinugasa, unusual for a medieval castle in being built of stone rather than earth, which is why it is read as a forerunner of Azuchi across the valley. Terraced enclosures, retaining walls and dry moats spread through the trees, reached by the pilgrim path to Kannonshoji temple.

53Nijo Castle二条城Kyoto

The one castle on this list where you walk through original interiors: the six buildings of the Ninomaru Palace are National Treasures, with squeaking nightingale floors and 1,016 painted panels, and the last shogun announced the return of power to the emperor in them in 1867. The keep burned in 1750 and only its base is left; the site is a World Heritage property.

Getting there: Nijojo-mae Station on the Tozai subway line is at the gate. Visitor guide · Our kyoto guide

54Osaka Castle大阪城Osaka

The keep is a 1931 steel-and-concrete museum with a lift, built on the Tokugawa keep base but modelled on Hideyoshi's earlier tower, so it matches neither exactly. The Edo-period fabric around it is the real thing, 13 turrets and gates listed as Important Cultural Properties, and the Takoishi stone in the Sakuramon gateway weighs an estimated 130 tonnes.

Getting there: Osakajokoen Station on the JR Loop Line, or Tanimachi 4-chome on the subway, then 15 min on foot. Visitor guide · Our osaka guide

55Chihaya Castle千早城Osaka

Kusunoki Masashige's fort of 1332 on the flank of Mount Kongo, where a few hundred defenders tied down a shogunal army and helped bring down the Kamakura regime. The castle's high point is 673 m, the climb from the bus stop is a long flight of stone steps, and what waits at the top is Chihaya Shrine, an enclosure and a dry moat.

56Takeda Castle竹田城Hyogo

Stone walls and nothing else, laid along a 353.7 m ridge for about 400 m end to end, one of the largest surviving mountain-castle wall systems in Japan. On still mornings from autumn into early spring the Maruyama River valley fills with cloud below it, which is how it got the nickname castle in the sky; admission is ¥500.

Closed completely from January 4 to February 28 every year for safety on the mountain (Asago City). It is open the rest of the year, with the last entry set well before dusk.

Getting there: About 40 min on foot up from JR Takeda Station, or a bus to Takeda-jo-ato Chushajo and a 20 min climb. Best: Late September to early December, for the best odds of a dawn cloud sea.

57Sasayama Castle篠山城Hyogo

A castle Ieyasu had built in 1609 to watch the road to Osaka, with a keep base that never carried a keep because the shogunate thought one unnecessary. The great hall, the Oshoin, burned in 1944 and was rebuilt in timber in 2000; the dry moats, stone walls and the old castle-town grid around them are the rest of the visit.

58Akashi Castle明石城Hyogo

Two three-tier corner turrets from about 1620 still stand on the ramparts, the Tatsumi and the Hitsujisaru, both Important Cultural Properties and visible the moment you step off the train. No keep was ever built between them; the park below is free, and the turret interiors open only on limited weekends.

The turret interiors, ground floor only and free, open on weekends and holidays in March to May (Tatsumi) and September to November (Hitsujisaru), and are cancelled in bad weather. The park and ramparts are open year round.

Getting there: About 5 min walk from JR Akashi Station, straight across the road into the park.

59Himeji Castle姫路城Hyogo

The largest of the original keeps: a white five-tier tower 31.5 m tall on a 14.85 m stone base, with its gates, turrets and spiral approach intact, and with Horyu-ji one of Japan's first World Heritage Sites in 1993. Adults from outside Himeji pay ¥2,500, city residents ¥1,000.

Until about July 2027, scaffolding on the turrets and gates around the keep blocks some views and the night lighting (Himeji City). The keep itself stays open.

Getting there: 20 min walk from JR Himeji Station, or Shinki bus to Otemon-mae and a 5 min walk. Our himeji guide

60Ako Castle赤穂城Hyogo

The castle of the 47 ronin: their lord was ordered to commit suicide in 1701 and they gave it up here. Its keep base never carried a keep, and the site has been rebuilt piece by piece since the 1950s, with the honmaru gate, corner turret and both gardens restored; Oishi Shrine, named for the ronin's leader, stands inside the walls.

Getting there: About 15 min walk from JR Banshu-Ako Station.

61Takatori Castle高取城Nara

The highest of Japan's three great mountain castles, at 583 m and 350 m above its town, and once carried 29 white-plastered towers and turrets on the summit. All of it came down in the Meiji era, so the reward for the climb, over an hour on foot from the town, is tier upon tier of stone wall standing in forest.

62Wakayama Castle和歌山城Wakayama

One of the three Tokugawa branch castles, bombed flat in 1945 and rebuilt in reinforced concrete in 1958 as a faithful exterior copy of the connected keep group. The Okaguchi gate survived the war and is an Important Cultural Property, and the roofed Ohashi-roka bridge across the inner moat was rebuilt in timber in 2006.

Getting there: About 10 min by bus from JR Wakayama Station, or 10 min walk from Wakayamashi Station. Our wakayama guide

63Tottori Castle鳥取城Tottori

Nicknamed the museum of castle forms, because the site runs from a 16th-century mountain fort at the top of Mount Kyusho to Edo-period enclosures at the foot, including a rare round rampart, the Tenkyumaru. No buildings survived, but the Giboshibashi bridge was rebuilt in timber in 2018 and the Nakanogomon gate in 2021.

Getting there: About 20 min by bus from JR Tottori Station to Tottori-jo-ato.

64Matsue Castle松江城Shimane

Black-boarded original keep that became a National Treasure in 2015, after prayer tablets dated January 1611 were found at Matsue Shrine in 2012 and settled its age. A roof and wall repair is scheduled from June 2027 to December 2030.

Getting there: About 2 km from JR Matsue Station: walk, or take the red Lake Line loop bus, which runs about every 30 min. Our matsue guide

65Gassan-Toda Castle月山富田城Shimane

The Amago clan's base on 183.9 m Mount Gassan, a mountain castle so hard to take that Mori Motonari starved it out rather than storm it. The Nanamagari switchback path climbs past hundreds of terraced enclosures to the summit; stone walls have been cleared and restored, and a samurai hall rebuilt on the way up.

66Tsuwano Castle津和野城Shimane

Stone walls along the crest of 367 m Mount Reiki, looking straight down on the tiled roofs and carp channels of Tsuwano. A chairlift saves most of the climb, leaving about 15 minutes on foot to the main enclosure; two Edo turrets from this castle still stand down in the town.

Getting there: About 40 min walk from JR Tsuwano Station to the chairlift, 5 min on the lift, then about 15 min on foot. Our yamaguchi guide

67Tsuyama Castle津山城Okayama

Mori Tadamasa spent 13 years from 1604 wrapping this hill in tier after tier of stone wall, and the walls are all that survived the Meiji demolition. The Bitchu turret was rebuilt in timber in 2005 and can be entered; the park is on the national list of 100 cherry-blossom sites, and the festival runs April 1 to 15.

Getting there: About 10 min walk from JR Tsuyama Station. Best: Early April, during the Tsuyama cherry festival.

68Bitchu-Matsuyama Castle備中松山城Okayama

A two-tier original keep from the early 1680s at about 430 m on Mount Gagyu, the only original keep in Japan on a true mountaintop. On calm mornings from late September to early April a sea of cloud can fill the valley below, seen best from a separate viewing platform.

Getting there: Taxi from JR Bitchu-Takahashi Station to Fuigo-toge (on scheduled days a shuttle bus runs up from Shiromachi Station, partway up the mountain), then a steep 20 min, 700 m walk. Best: Late October to early December, for the best odds of a dawn cloud sea. Our okayama guide

69Kinojo Castle鬼ノ城Okayama

An ancient mountain fortress on 397 m Mount Kinojo, ringed by 2.8 km of earth and stone wall built in the late 7th century and mentioned in no history, which is why local legend gave it to an ogre. The west gate, the corner tower and stretches of rampart have been reconstructed; there is a visitor centre and no admission.

70Okayama Castle岡山城Okayama

Crow Castle, named for the black-boarded walls of its keep, which burned in 1945 and was rebuilt in concrete in 1966 and then closed from July 2021 to November 2022 for seismic work and a new interior. The Tsukimi turret on the main enclosure survived and is an Important Cultural Property; Korakuen garden is across the river.

Getting there: Tram to Shiroshita, then about 10 min on foot. Our okayama guide

71Fukuyama Castle福山城Hiroshima

The closest castle in Japan to a Shinkansen platform: the main enclosure is right outside JR Fukuyama's north exit. The keep burned in 1945 and is a 1966 concrete rebuild, but the 400th-anniversary works of 2020 to 2022 put back the black iron plating that once armoured its north face, described as the only castle keep in Japan with it. The Fushimi turret and Sujigane gate are original.

Getting there: About 5 min walk from the north exit of JR Fukuyama Station.

72Koriyama Castle郡山城Hiroshima

Mori Motonari's mountain base, from which a minor family took over most of western Japan, held against a Amago siege in 1540 and abandoned in 1591. The whole mountain is cut into enclosures, dry moats and stone-faced terraces, and Motonari's grave and the Hyakumanisshin stone are on the way up.

73Hiroshima Castle広島城Hiroshima

The five-tier keep survived until August 6, 1945, when the atomic bomb brought it down about 900 m from the hypocentre. Everything standing now is postwar: the keep is a 1958 exterior reconstruction in steel and concrete, and the main gate, flanking turret and multi-bay turret of the second enclosure were rebuilt in timber in the 1990s.

Getting there: About 15 min walk from the Peace Memorial Park, or tram to Kamiyacho-nishi and 15 min on foot. Visitor guide · Our hiroshima guide

74Iwakuni Castle岩国城Yamaguchi

The Kikkawa family's castle stood seven years before the one-castle-per-province order pulled it down in 1615. The concrete tower of 1962 was deliberately put up about 50 m from the real keep base so it could be seen from the town below; the excavated original base was restored in 1995 and sits right beside it.

Getting there: Ropeway from beside the Kintaikyo bridge, then about 10 min on foot. Our hiroshima guide

75Hagi Castle萩城Yamaguchi

The Mori lords were exiled to this river delta after Sekigahara and built here in 1604; their descendants tore the castle down themselves in 1874. The keep base, walls and moat remain at the foot of Mount Shizuki, with the Hanae tea house moved into the main enclosure, and the samurai streets outside the gate are a preservation district and part of a World Heritage listing.

Our yamaguchi guide

76Tokushima Castle徳島城Tokushima

Built of Awa blue schist, which gives the stone walls a green-grey cast you see nowhere else. No castle buildings survive the 1945 air raid; the Washi-no-mon gate was rebuilt in 1989, and the real survivor is the Omote-goten garden, a National Place of Scenic Beauty laid out with the same blue stone.

Getting there: About 10 min walk from JR Tokushima Station. Our tokushima guide

77Takamatsu Castle高松城Kagawa

A sea castle whose moats are filled with seawater straight from the Inland Sea, so oysters grow on the stones and farmed sea bream swim in them; you can feed them from a boat. The Tsukimi turret, water gate and Ushitora turret are original Important Cultural Properties, and the Sakura gate, burned in 1945, reopened as a timber reconstruction on July 16, 2022.

Getting there: About 3 min walk from JR Takamatsu Station. Our takamatsu guide

78Marugame Castle丸亀城Kagawa

At about 15 m the smallest of the 12 original keeps, sitting on stone walls that stack roughly 60 m from moat to summit, the tallest in Japan. Sections of those walls collapsed in the 2018 rains and typhoon, and the city is rebuilding them.

Stone wall reconstruction after the 2018 collapses is targeted to finish by the end of March 2028 (Marugame City). The keep and the two Important Cultural Property gates stay open, but part of the southwest wall is fenced and the approach is diverted.

Getting there: 15 min walk from JR Marugame Station (south exit), then about 20 min on foot from the Otemon gate up to the keep.

79Imabari Castle今治城Ehime

Todo Takatora's sea castle of 1602, built so warships could sail from the Inland Sea straight into the moat, which still rises and falls with the tide. The tower is a 1980 concrete invention rather than a copy of anything documented; the Tetsu gate and the turrets around it, rebuilt in timber in 2007, are the more honest buildings.

Getting there: About 20 min walk from JR Imabari Station, or 9 min by bus.

80Yuzuki Castle湯築城Ehime

A medieval Kono clan castle of twin earth ramparts and twin water moats, sitting in Dogo Park a few minutes from the hot spring bathhouse. Excavation was detailed enough that a row of retainers' houses, a gate and a plastered wall have been rebuilt on the old footprints, and entry to the grounds is free.

Getting there: Dogo-koen tram stop is at the gate; Dogo Onsen is about 5 min further on foot. Our matsuyama guide

81Matsuyama Castle松山城Ehime

Finished in 1854, the year after Perry's Black Ships arrived, this is the youngest of the 12 original keeps, 132 m up Katsuyama hill in the city centre. The turrets and corridors linked to it are 1968 rebuilds; the keep itself is original.

Getting there: Ropeway or chairlift from Shinonome-guchi station near the Okaido tram stop, then a 10 min walk; allow about 30 min from the ropeway station to the keep's ticket office. Our matsuyama guide

82Ozu Castle大洲城Ehime

A four-tier keep rebuilt in timber in 2004, made possible by Meiji photographs of the outside and a wooden scale model the Nakamura family of master carpenters had kept, which showed the frame. Four Edo turrets around it are Important Cultural Properties, and the keep is let for overnight stays on a limited number of nights each year.

Getting there: About 20 min walk from JR Iyo-Ozu Station.

83Uwajima Castle宇和島城Ehime

The Date clan's three-tier original keep, finished around 1666 on a wooded hilltop in the middle of town; entry is ¥200. Part of the southern approach path has been closed since July 2026, so check the city's notices for the open route.

Getting there: 15 min walk (1 km) from JR Uwajima Station to the castle grounds; the city puts station to keep at about 35 min.

84Kochi Castle高知城Kochi

Original keep rebuilt in 1747 after a 1727 fire, in the only castle where every building of the main enclosure survives, palace included. You walk through an intact Edo-period compound to reach the keep.

Getting there: 15 min walk from the Kochijo-mae tram stop; JR Kochi Station is about 25 min on foot. Our kochi guide

85Fukuoka Castle福岡城Fukuoka

Kuroda Nagamasa's castle of 1601, and historians still argue over whether it ever had a keep, since the base is there and no record of a tower is. The Tamon turret is an Important Cultural Property, the Shiomi turret and Shimonohashi gate have been restored, and the excavated Korokan, Japan's only known ancient foreign envoys' lodging, lies inside the third enclosure.

Getting there: About 8 min walk from Ohorikoen Station on the Kuko subway line. Our fukuoka guide

86Ono Castle大野城Fukuoka

Japan's largest ancient mountain fortress, thrown up in 665 by exiled Baekje engineers after the court's defeat at Baekgang, with 8.4 km of earth and stone wall wrapped around 410 m Mount Shioji behind the Dazaifu government seat. The set pieces are the Hyakken stone wall and the building foundations at Zochoten, reached on forest trails.

87Hizen-Nagoya Castle名護屋城Saga

Hideyoshi built this on a headland facing Korea in 1591 as the staging base for his invasions, and it was pulled down in 1598 when he died and the armies came home. Stone walls, dry moats and wells cover the promontory, more than 100 daimyo camp sites are scattered in the fields around it, and a prefectural museum next door tells the story from both sides.

88Yoshinogari吉野ヶ里Saga

Not a castle at all but a Yayoi-period moated village of 117 hectares, uncovered from 1986 and the largest of its kind found in Japan. Watchtowers, pit houses, raised granaries, palisades and burial mounds have been rebuilt on their excavated post-holes, which is as close as you get to walking through Japan before castles existed.

Getting there: About 15 min walk from JR Yoshinogari-koen Station on the Nagasaki Main Line. Our saga guide

89Saga Castle佐賀城Saga

The Shachi gate and its attached turret, built in 1838, are the only castle buildings left, and they still carry bullet holes from the Saga Rebellion of 1874. Part of the honmaru palace was rebuilt in timber in 2004 as a history museum on the Nabeshima lords, with a great hall larger than most castle museums and no admission charge.

Getting there: About 10 min by bus from JR Saga Station, then a short walk. Our saga guide

90Hirado Castle平戸城Nagasaki

The Matsura lords never built a keep here, so the tower above the harbour is an invention of 1962 in concrete, now a museum of the clan and the port's trading past. The genuinely unusual part is the Kaiju turret, converted into lodging that takes one group a night, in use since April 1, 2021.

91Shimabara Castle島原城Nagasaki

The taxes raised to build this castle in the 1620s helped provoke the Shimabara rebellion of 1637, the uprising that ended organised Christianity in Japan for two centuries. The five-tier keep is a 1964 concrete reconstruction and holds one of the country's fullest collections on the hidden Christians, with Mount Unzen behind it.

Getting there: About 5 min walk from Shimabara Station on the Shimabara Railway. Our nagasaki guide

92Kumamoto Castle熊本城Kumamoto

Kato Kiyomasa's musha-gaeshi walls curve outward as they rise so that an attacker cannot climb them, and they held Saigo Takamori's army out for 54 days in 1877. Eleven turrets, a gate and a wall stretch survive as Important Cultural Properties; the keep is a 1960 concrete reconstruction, repaired after the 2016 earthquakes and reopened inside on June 28, 2021.

The keep reopened to visitors on June 28, 2021 and is reached on a raised special viewing route built over the earthquake damage. The city's restoration plan runs to fiscal 2052; the Uto turret has been dismantled for rebuilding since 2022 and is due back in 2032, and parts of the grounds remain fenced.

Getting there: Tram to Kumamotojo-Shiyakusho-mae, then about 10 min on foot. Our kumamoto guide

93Hitoyoshi Castle人吉城Kumamoto

The Sagara family held this spot for 670 years, longer than any other clan held any castle in Japan. What is left is stone, including a rare hane-ishigaki course of flat stones that juts out along the top of the riverside wall to throw off climbers; the site museum, flooded by the Kuma River in July 2020, reopened on July 11, 2025.

Our kumamoto guide

94Funai Castle大分府内城Oita

A sea castle at the mouth of the Oita River whose keep burned in 1743 and was never replaced. Two Edo turrets survive on the walls, the Soumon and the Hitojichi, the corridor bridge over the moat has been rebuilt in timber, and prefectural offices now fill the outer enclosure right up to the stonework.

Getting there: About 10 min walk from JR Oita Station. Our oita guide

95Oka Castle岡城Oita

Stone walls running for nearly a kilometre along a narrow ridge above the Ono River gorge, with sheer drops on both sides and not one building left standing. Taki Rentaro grew up in Taketa below and is said to have taken the image for "Kojo no Tsuki", Japan's best-known song about a ruined castle, from here; his statue stands on the walls.

Getting there: About 25 min walk from JR Bungo-Taketa Station, or 5 min by taxi.

96Obi Castle飫肥城Miyazaki

The Ito clan's castle in a cedar-shipping town, built as a string of separate enclosures across a volcanic terrace rather than one compact block. The stone walls are original; the main gate and the hall behind it were built in timber in the 1970s from informed guesswork rather than documents, and the samurai streets outside are a preservation district.

97Kagoshima Castle鹿児島城Kagoshima

The Shimazu built a plain walled residence in 1602 and deliberately never raised a keep, trusting their province's fortified villages instead. The Gyoro gate was rebuilt in timber and opened on April 11, 2020; the walls of the old private academy alongside it are pitted with bullet marks from the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion, and the Reimeikan museum stands in the main enclosure.

Getting there: Tram to Shiyakusho-mae, then about 5 min on foot. Our kagoshima guide

98Nakijin Castle今帰仁城Okinawa

A gusuku of the Hokuzan kings, built from the 13th century before the Ryukyu kingdom was united, with limestone walls that curve along a ridge for about 1.5 km in the northern hills. It is a World Heritage property, and its Taiwan cherries open from late January, the earliest blossom in Japan.

Best: Late January to early February, for the cherry blossom.

99Nakagusuku Castle中城城Okinawa

The best-preserved gusuku in Okinawa, six enclosures stepping along a ridge with views to both coasts, built by the lord Gosamaru before 1458. Commodore Perry's party surveyed it in May 1853 and reported that the arched gates and limestone blocks were cut and fitted so precisely that no mortar had been used; it is a World Heritage property.

100Shuri Castle首里城Okinawa

The palace of the Ryukyu kings, destroyed in the 1945 battle for Okinawa, rebuilt in vermilion in 1992, and burned again on October 31, 2019 when fire took the main hall and six other buildings. The walls, gates and the stone gate of Sonohyan-utaki are the World Heritage listing and are open; the timber rebuild of the main hall is finishing now.

The rebuilt main hall opens to the public on November 23, 2026, after a completion ceremony on November 22, and the park closes for that day (Shurijo Castle Park notice, June 4, 2026). Until then you can walk the paid zone and watch the work from the viewing deck; the south hall, north hall and other buildings are still to come.

Getting there: About 15 min walk from Shuri Station on the Yui Rail monorail. Our naha guide