Castle Day Photos

Japan's Last Remaining Original Condition Castle Tower Keeps

Today, the fourth month, 6^th day, April 6 is Castle Day in Japan!

Four can be pronounced shi, while six is roku, or in some cases, ro, hence today is Shi-ro,…Shiro is “castle” in Japanese.

Throughout Japan’s long history there have been some 40 - 50,000 castles across the land. Naturally not all were in operation at the same time.  It was in the late 16th century when samurai castles first started to have tower keeps, when the charismatic warlord Oda Nobunaga commenced unifying the country. One of his remarkable achievements was Azuchi Castle on the shores of Lake Biwa. Azuchi Castle was surrounded by great stone walls and was topped with a gorgeous tower keep of such magnificence it became the ultimate symbol of his power. This commenced a trend of displaying one’s political and military power by way of an impressive tower.

During the Edo period there were around 170 castles in active duty, not all of these had a tower keep of course, however many of the castle keeps succumbed to fire from arson, accident or lightning strike. Other collapsed in typhoons or from earthquakes. Many were destroyed in the 1615 Ikkoku-ichiJo Rei, the One Castle per Domain Law enacted by the Tokugawa clan. Over 95% of the then active 3,000 castles were deactivated and destroyed, leaving around 170. At the end of the feudal period and in the early Meiji period, a great many castles were sold off and demolished as the Meiji government claimed they were unnecessary relics of the past, and were being done away with as Japan worked towards modernization. Truth was, the Meiji Government couldn’t afford the upkeep of these historically important wooden structures, and so they were discarded. Of those that survived, around 20 were destroyed in the aerial fire bombings of WWII.

That left only 12 castles castles across Japan with tower keeps in original condition. Just 12!  Of those 12, only five are designated at National Treasures. The following are photos and captions of those 12 in what I consider to be their order of quality and importance. Enjoy.

National Treasure and World Heritage Himeji Castle has the most extant structures of any castle remaining in Japan. Photo © 2016 Chris Glenn

National Treasure Matsumoto Castle is actually five National Treasure designated structures in the one complex. Photo © 2018 Chris Glenn

National Treasure Hikone Castle, constructed in haste by the Ii clan using the top three floors of Otsu Castle which had been badly damaged in a Battle of Sekigahara related siege. Photo © 2014 Chris Glenn

National Treasure Inuyama Castle. The oldest remaining tower keep, seen here from the air, from behind above the Kiso River. Photo © 2015 Chris Glenn

Built in 1611 by Horio Yoshiharu and Horio Tadauji, Matsue Castle in Shimane Prefecture is the most recent tenshu, castle keep to be designated a National Treasure. Photo © 2016 Chris Glenn

Kochi Castle in Kochi Prefecture has the most complete Honmaru compound of any castle in Japan. Kochi is a personal favorite, and I cannot understand why such a fine example of a hilltop castle has not been made a National Treasure,…maybe soon? Photo © 2017 Chris Glenn

Second only to Himeji Castle in the number of remaining structures, and having the oldest remaining example of an “Ishi Otoshi” feature is Iyo Matsuyama Castle in Ehime, Shikoku. Construction was started by Kato Yoshiaki in 1602.This is one of my all time favourite castles. Photo © 2016 Chris Glenn

Iyo Matsuyama and Bitchu Matsuyama are often confused. Bitchu in Okayama Prefecture at 430-meters high above the sea level is the highest located extant keep. The keep, seen to the upper right, is only two stories high, as being on a mountaintop, a taller keep wasn’t required. Photo © 2015 Chris Glenn

Warlord Ikoma Chikamasa started the construction of Marugame as his subsidiary castle in 1597.Although one of the smaller keeps, Marugame Castle’s tower keep is also original, and the stone walls are seen as a masterpiece of the most advanced techniques of the early Edo period. Photo © 2017 Chris Glenn

Another small but extant tenshu keep can be found in Shikoku. Uwajima Castle was originally built by the castle expert, warlord Todo Takatora. For more details on Todo Takatora and in samurai castles in general, may I suggest my 2022 published book The Samurai Castle Master, Warlord Todo Takatora, available from Frontline Books and all book retailers. Photo © 2017 Chris Glenn

A 1930s promotional poster for Hirosaki Castle in Aomori Prefecture. The walls are currently being repaired, and the watchtower like keep has been temporarily moved in the interum.

Demolished in an earthquake in 1948, and rebuilt using 80% of the original timbers, Maruoka Castle is still considered an extant tenshu. Photo © 2018 Chris Glenn