Palaces, Villas and Castles

Okayama Castle, also known as "crow castle" due to its black exterior, was built in 1597 in the style of the Azuchi-Momoyama Period. The ori… Read the rest

Kokura Castle was built in 1602 at the beginning of the Edo Period. The castle was destroyed by fire in 1866, and the current castle tower is a ferro-… Read the rest

Shimabara Castle, is a white walled castle built during the early Edo Period as the seat of the local feudal lord. The castle was the extravagant cent… Read the rest

Toyama Castle Park covers the former grounds of Toyama Castle in central Toyama. The park contains a reconstructed castle keep, an art museum, a nice… Read the rest

Gujo Hachiman Castle was built in 1559 by the local feudal lord on the top of a hill. Although the castle had been destroyed in the early Meiji Period… Read the rest

Hirado Castle stands on a hill guarding Hirado Port and the Hirado Strait, which used to be part of an important trade route between Japan and the Asi… Read the rest

Fukuyama Castle is a castle on a low hill right across Fukuyama Station. It was originally constructed in 1622 under the command of the cousin of Toku… Read the rest

From 1583 to the end of the Edo Period, Kanazawa Castle was the seat of the powerful Maeda Clan, lords of Kaga, a feudal domain ranking second only to… Read the rest

Nakagusuku Castle is one of several castles, which were built across Okinawa during the era of the Ryukyu Kingdom, which had been in existence for sev… Read the rest

Takeda Castle is a ruined castle in Asago City, Hyogo Prefecture, that is also known as the "castle floating in the sky" because of the way… Read the rest