Best Castles in Japan

Most of Japan’s castles were built in a burst between about 1580 and 1615, when warlords unified the country. Then a 1615 law limited each domain to one castle, the Meiji government ordered hundreds demolished after 1873, and Second World War air raids burned most of the rest, including Osaka, Nagoya, Hiroshima, Okayama and Wakayama. Of the 12 keeps (tenshu) that came through, five are National Treasures: Himeji, Matsumoto, Hikone, Inuyama and Matsue. The other seven are Hirosaki, Maruoka, Bitchu Matsuyama, Marugame, Matsuyama, Uwajima and Kochi.

Rebuilds come in three kinds. Concrete reconstructions from the 1950s and 1960s, such as Osaka, Nagoya, Kumamoto, Odawara and the red-tiled Tsuruga-jo in Aizuwakamatsu, look right from outside but are museums inside. Wooden reconstructions, built with traditional methods from old plans, are rarer and more convincing: the turrets of Kanazawa Castle, the Hommaru Palace at Nagoya and several gates and turrets at Kumamoto. Ruins have only the stone walls and moats left, and some are the most atmospheric of all, like Takeda Castle above the clouds in Hyogo. Many towns also have castle parks with nothing original but the walls, which are often the best cherry blossom spots in town.

Himeji Castle is the castle that justifies the trip on its own. Completed in 1609, its white plastered keep rises six storeys above a stone base on a hill, protected by a spiral of 80-odd buildings, gates, dead ends and gun ports designed to confuse attackers. It is called the White Heron Castle for its colour and outline, was never besieged, and survived bombing in 1945 that burned much of the city around it. It was Japan’s first World Heritage site in 1993.

From Shin-Osaka the shinkansen takes about 30 minutes and Kyoto about 45; the castle is a 15 to 20-minute walk straight up the main street from Himeji station. Since March 2026, adults who are not Himeji residents pay 2,500 yen (about $17), or 2,600 yen with the Koko-en garden next door, and under-18s enter free. Hours are 9am to 5pm, with last entry at 4pm. Allow two hours: the climb through the keep is six floors of steep wooden stairs in socks, with bags carried in a plastic sack. On spring weekends and in Golden Week there can be an hour’s queue, so arrive at 9am.

Matsumoto Castle, in Matsumoto at the foot of the Japan Alps, has the oldest five-storey keep still standing, built in the 1590s and painted black, which is why it is called the Crow Castle. It sits in a moat with a red bridge, with snow peaks behind on a clear winter morning. Inside, the stairs reach about 60 degrees, the floors are polished from 400 years of socks, and the gun and arrow ports are original. The Azusa limited express from Shinjuku takes around 2 hours 40 minutes, and the castle is 15 minutes’ walk from the station.

Inuyama Castle, on a bluff above the Kiso River, has one of the oldest keeps in Japan, a small three-storey tower with an outer balcony you can walk around for the view. It is about 30 minutes from Nagoya by Meitetsu train to Inuyama-yuen, and pairs with the old merchant street below it. Hikone Castle, completed in 1622 on a hill above Lake Biwa, is less than an hour from Kyoto on the JR Biwako line. Its keep is small but elegant, and the ticket includes the Genkyu-en stroll garden below; around 1,200 cherry trees ring the moat in early April.

Two of the most visited castles in the region are rebuilds. Nagoya Castle’s concrete keep, with its golden dolphin roof ornaments, has been closed since 2018 pending a planned wooden reconstruction, but the Hommaru Palace, rebuilt by hand in 2018 with gilded painted screens, is open and is the reason to go. Gifu Castle is a 1956 concrete keep on top of Mount Kinka, reached by ropeway, with a view over the Nobi plain; Iwamura Castle nearby, one of the highest mountain castle ruins in Japan, has only walls left. The site of Azuchi Castle, Oda Nobunaga’s revolutionary castle on Lake Biwa, is now stone steps and foundations.

Matsue Castle on the Sea of Japan coast is the only original keep in the San’in region, a dark wooden tower made a National Treasure in 2015. Below it, flat-bottomed boats ride the Horikawa moat in a loop of about 50 minutes, ducking under low bridges, with heated kotatsu tables in winter. Combine it with Izumo Taisha, 50 minutes away.

Bitchu Matsuyama Castle near Takahashi, in Okayama Prefecture, is the highest original keep in Japan at about 430 m. A shuttle bus or taxi takes you most of the way, then a 20-minute climb; from October to March, early mornings sometimes bring a sea of cloud below it. In Okayama city, the black concrete Okayama Castle stands across the river from Korakuen, one of Japan’s three great gardens. The concrete Hiroshima Castle keep, rebuilt in 1958 after the bomb, closed in 2023 over earthquake safety, though its grounds and moat are open and are a short walk from the Peace Park in Hiroshima.

Osaka Castle is Japan’s most visited castle and almost entirely a reproduction: the keep dates from 1931, in concrete, and the interior is a museum of the Toyotomi family with a lift to an observation floor. The reason to go is the setting. The stone walls and moats, rebuilt by the Tokugawa in the 1620s, include single granite blocks weighing more than 100 tonnes, and the surrounding park in Osaka holds about 3,000 cherry trees. Entry to the keep is 1,200 yen; the park is free. Go early or late, because tour groups fill the keep from 10am.

Kumamoto Castle in Kumamoto, on Kyushu, is among the three great castles of Japan for its sweeping, curved stone walls. Its 1960 concrete keep was badly damaged in the 2016 earthquakes and reopened in 2021 after restoration, with a raised walkway that lets you look down on the repair work, which is expected to continue into the 2050s. Entry costs 800 yen, and the castle is a 15-minute tram ride from the shinkansen station.

Shikoku has four of the 12 originals, and its castles are among the least crowded in Japan. Matsuyama Castle sits on a hill in the city centre, reached by ropeway or chairlift, and is the full package: a keep, turrets, gates and walls, with the old bathhouse of Dogo Onsen 15 minutes away by tram. Kochi Castle is the only one where both the keep and the original lord’s palace survive. Marugame Castle has the smallest original keep but some of the tallest stone walls in Japan, in tiers rising about 60 m from the moat; it is a short train ride from Takamatsu. Uwajima’s three-storey keep sits in a hilltop forest. Imabari Castle, a rebuild, has a sea-water moat with fish in it.

In the north, Hirosaki Castle in Aomori Prefecture is the only original keep in Tohoku. In 2015 the whole keep was moved off its base so the stone walls could be rebuilt, and it remains open while the work continues. Hirosaki Park around it has about 2,600 cherry trees and is one of the country’s top blossom spots in late April, with petals covering the moats. In Fukui, Maruoka Castle is another small original. Tsuruga-jo in Aizuwakamatsu is a concrete rebuild with red roof tiles, worth seeing for its Boshin War story, and in Kanazawa the wooden reconstructed turrets of the castle park stand beside Kenroku-en garden.

Nijo Castle in Kyoto was the shogun’s residence in the old capital and is a palace more than a fortress. The Ninomaru Palace, from 1603, is a series of reception halls with gilded painted screens and “nightingale floors” that squeak to warn of intruders. Entry is 1,300 yen including the palace, 8.45am to 5pm, closed some days in winter. The Kyoto Imperial Palace, home of the emperors until 1869, is free to walk around without booking, Tuesday to Sunday, on a set route past the throne hall and gardens.

The finest imperial building is the Katsura Imperial Villa in western Kyoto, a 17th-century princely retreat whose garden and tea houses influenced modern architecture. Visits are by guided tour only, 1,000 yen, booked through the Imperial Household Agency website, which also handles the free tours of the Sento Palace and Shugakuin Imperial Villa. Tickets open about three months ahead and same-day spaces are limited.

In Tokyo, the Tokyo Imperial Palace stands on the site of Edo Castle, once the largest castle in the world. The East Gardens, with the giant stone base of Edo Castle’s lost keep, are free and open most days except Mondays and Fridays; free guided tours of the inner grounds run from the Kikyomon gate and can be booked online. The palace opens to the public on 2 January and on the emperor’s birthday on 23 February. Kitanomaru Park to the north and the moat walk around the palace are prime cherry blossom spots. The Akasaka Palace, a neo-baroque state guest house from 1909, opens to visitors on most days when no state guests are staying.

Okinawa’s castles look nothing like the mainland’s. The gusuku were built by the Ryukyu kings and lords between the 14th and 16th centuries, with curving limestone walls that follow the ridgelines, and five of them form the Ryukyu World Heritage site. Shuri Castle above Naha was the royal palace, rebuilt in 1992 and then burned again in 2019; reconstruction of the red main hall is scheduled to finish around the end of 2026, so check whether it has reopened. The walls, gates and grounds stay open throughout, and you can watch the carpenters at work.

Nakijin Castle on the Motobu peninsula has 1.5 km of snaking walls, views to the East China Sea and cherry blossoms in late January, among the first in Japan. It combines easily with the Churaumi Aquarium 15 minutes away. Nakagusuku Castle, half an hour north of Naha, is the best preserved, with neat stone gateways; Katsuren Castle and Zakimi Castle are smaller and quieter. Entry is around 400 to 600 yen at each, and you need a car or tour to string them together.

Most castles open from 9am to 5pm, with last entry 30 minutes before closing, and close for a few days over New Year. Keeps involve steep, narrow wooden stairs and you remove your shoes at the entrance, so wear easy shoes and socks, and leave big bags at the station; most keeps have no lockers and limited space. Original keeps have no lifts and are not wheelchair accessible, while concrete rebuilds like Osaka usually are. Volunteer guides offer free English tours at Himeji, Matsumoto and several others; ask at the entrance.

Castle-collectors can buy a “100 Fine Castles of Japan” stamp book and collect the stamp kept at each site, and many castles sell a goshujo, a calligraphed castle seal, for 300 to 500 yen. The great castles fit easily on a rail route: Himeji is a stop on the Tokaido-Sanyo shinkansen, and Matsumoto, Inuyama and Hikone sit on lines covered by the JR Pass or regional passes, which our Japan trains guide compares. For timing around the blossom season, see the cherry blossom guide.