Japanese Castles to visit

Castles are an important part of the Japanese culture and history. Four of them are designated as a National Treasure. Himeji Castle itself contains five specific items listed, which is also designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

During my time in Japan this year, I will try to visit the following castles:

  • Nijou, Fushimi, Shouryuuji, Yodo - All in Kyoto City or in close distance
  • 和歌山城 - Wakayama Castle, Wakayama City, Wakayama Prefecture
  • 小田原城 - Odawara Castle, Kanagawa Prefecture
  • 駿府城 - Sunpu Castle, Shizuoka Prefecture
  • 犬山城 - Inuyama Castle, Aichi Prefecture
  • 岸和田城 - Kishiwada Castle, Osaka Metropolitan Area
  • 竹田城 - Takeda Castle Ruins, Hyogo Prefecture
  • 篠山城 - Sasayama Castle, Hyogo Prefecture
  • 姫路城 - Himeji Castle, Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture
  • 丸亀城 - Marugame, Kanagawa Prefecture
  • 高知城 - Kochi Castle, Kochi, Shikoku
  • 松山城 - Matsuyama Castle, Ehime Prefecture
  • 明石城 - Akashi Castle, Hyogo Prefecture
  • 大阪城 - Osaka Castle, Osaka City
  • 掛川城 - Kakegawa Castle, Shizuoka Prefecture

A good place for detailed information about each of the castles are available at Japanese Castle Explorer.

Last year I already visited some of them and few others, listed below with link to a picture from that visit:

Of which the two last ones I did not enter, as they seemed to be over populated at the time.

Plans are always overwhelming, let’s see afterwards how many of those castles listed I actually manage to visit.