Japanese castles to visit: the twelve original castles from Hirosaki, Matsumoto and Maruoka to Himeji, Matsue, Bitchu Matsuyama and the four in Shikoku, the rebuilt castles of Osaka, Nagoya, Kumamoto, Shuri and Odawara, castles near Tokyo and Kyoto, the 100 Great Castles stamps, the best seasons, and 2026 prices and hours compared

What a Japanese castle is

A Japanese castle is not one building. It is a whole fortress: stone walls, moats, gates, turrets and, at the centre, the tall tower that most people picture when they hear the word. That tower is the keep, the tenshu. JNTO describes Hirosaki as "featuring walls, moats, and yagura towers", and that list fits almost every castle you will visit. The keep was the part built to be seen from far away. Lords usually lived and received guests in a low, wide palace, a goten, inside the walls, and only a few of those palaces still stand.

The buildings are wood, plaster and tile on top of huge stone walls. The walls are often the oldest thing on the site, and at castles where every building has gone, the walls and moats are what you come to see. Inside an original keep you find bare wooden floors, thick beams, small windows and very steep stairs, not furniture or treasure.

Castle words you will see

Even in English leaflets and on English signs, a few Japanese words keep turning up. This handful covers most of what you will read.

Mountain, hill and flatland castles

The Japan Castle Association, which runs the 100 Great Castles list, sorts every castle by the ground it stands on. A yamajiro is a mountain castle, built on a peak and hard to reach. A hirayamajiro sits on a hill rising out of a plain, so it could defend itself and still look over a town. A hirajiro is a flatland castle that relies on wide moats and high walls instead of height. Ten of the twelve original castles are hill castles. Matsumoto is the only one on flat ground, and Bitchu Matsuyama the only one on a mountain.

Why so few castles survive

When samurai rule ended in 1868, castles lost their purpose and most were taken down. Fire and earthquakes took others, and the Second World War destroyed many of those that were left: Nagoya's keeps burned in the air raids of 1945, and Hiroshima's fell in the atomic bombing that August. JNTO puts it plainly: "Many of the castles you see in Japan today are in fact, modern replicas." Osaka's keep went up in 1931, and Nagoya, Hiroshima, Kumamoto and Odawara were rebuilt in concrete between 1958 and 1960.

A rebuilt castle is not a fake one. Most stand on the original walls and moats, and JNTO says these replicas can still be "an incredible learning experience", with historic artefacts from their own regions. Inside you usually find a museum, often with a lift. An original keep is the opposite: almost empty, but the wood, the stairs and the view are the real thing. Many trips include one of each. If you want to see armour, swords and the people who lived in castles, our samurai experience guide covers the castle towns and museums.

The twelve original castles

JNTO calls them "Japan’s twelve, still-standing original castles", for travellers who want to see a castle in its original form. The twelve are spread from Aomori in the north to Kochi in the south, and four of them are on the island of Shikoku. The table gives the site type and the year building began, both as listed by the Japan Castle Association. Where it gives two or three years, the castle was built in stages.

Five of the twelve keeps are National Treasures, the highest rank Japan gives to a building. JNTO lists them in its entry on Hikone: "Hikone Castle is among Himeji Castle, Inuyama Castle, Matsue Castle and Matsumoto Castle in having its original main keep recognized as a national treasure." Himeji is also the only one of the twelve on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Hikone may follow: in September 2026 a council of Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs agreed to put it forward, and the city is aiming for 2028.

Which original castle is the oldest?

There is no single answer, and you will see the claim made in more than one place. JNTO says Matsumoto is "said to be the oldest surviving castle tower in Japan", and calls Maruoka "A contender for having one of the oldest keeps among Japanese castles". Inuyama's own website calls its keep the oldest. The answer depends on whether you count the year a castle was founded, the year its keep was finished, or how much of the first timber survives, so treat "oldest" as a friendly argument between towns rather than a fact.

The twelve original castles one by one

The castles below run from north to south. Prices are for one adult on a single visit, as each castle listed them on 18 October 2026; children, students and groups usually pay less, and some castles let local residents in for less or for free. Hours change with the season, and repairs can close a floor or a gate at short notice, so look at the castle's own website in the week you go.

Hirosaki Castle (Aomori)

JNTO says the castle was "originally built in 1611 by lord Nobuhira of the Tsugaru clan". Its first keep had five storeys and was lost to fire in 1627, and for a long time the castle had no keep at all. The small three-storey keep you see now went up in 1810, and Hirosaki Park's website, which gathers news from the city and the park, calls it the only keep in the Tohoku region left from the Edo period. The same website describes Hirosaki as "one of the few Japanese castles that has been preserved and remains to this day in its original structure".

Most people come for the cherry blossom. JNTO says the park is "Home to over 2600 cherry blossom trees". In 2015 the whole keep was moved in one piece onto a temporary base inside the inner bailey so that the ageing stone walls under it could be repaired. It was pulled back to its old place between 21 and 28 August 2026, but the inside of the keep has been closed to visitors since 23 November 2025, and no reopening date had been given when we checked. You can still walk the grounds and see the keep from outside.

Matsumoto Castle (Nagano)

Matsumoto is the black castle on flat ground. JNTO picks out its "original stonework backdropped by views of the Northern Alps", and on a clear day the mountains stand behind the keep. The castle's own website calls it the oldest surviving wooden keep with five roofs and six floors inside, and the city's official view is that it was built in 1593 and 1594. You go in through the Kuromon gate, take off your shoes at the entrance, where bags are handed out for them, and climb about 140 steps. The steepest stairs reach a slope of about 61 degrees, and the castle bans photos near the stairs for safety.

Lights come on at the keep at sunset and stay on until 22:00 all year round, so it is worth coming back after dark. Tickets come in two kinds: a timed e-ticket bought in advance, or a paper ticket on the day for a little more.

Maruoka Castle (Fukui)

JNTO says Maruoka is known as the "mist castle", and the castle's own website says it is the only one of the twelve keeps to have been restored after collapsing completely. JNTO explains that the keep was "levelled during the Fukui earthquake of 1948, but was faithfully reassembled using eighty percent of its original materials".

The keep is under repair from March 2026 to November 2027, and what you can see depends on the date. Sakai City's schedule plans to open the keep from 19 September to 8 November 2026. During that time the ground floor is partly fenced off, the second and third floors are open but you cannot see out of the windows, and the third floor is closed from 26 to 30 October. From 9 November to 4 December the keep is planned to be closed. On weekdays from 8:00 to 17:00, builders work around the keep, so expect scaffolding, noise and cranes.

Inuyama Castle (Aichi)

Inuyama is an easy trip from Nagoya: Meitetsu trains take about 25 minutes. JNTO says it "has sat atop a hill overlooking vistas of the Kiso River since the 16th century", and the top floor is the reason to come. A balcony runs all the way round it, and from there you look out over the river. The castle's website dates the start of building to around 1537, under Oda Nobuyasu. The keep has three roofs and four floors, with two more levels below ground. It also has an unusual history of ownership: JNTO notes that "Until 2004, Inuyama was the only privately-owned castle in Japan".

Leave big bags behind. Large luggage is not allowed in the keep, and there are lockers at the ticket office, at the tourist information centre and at Meitetsu Inuyama Station. From 4 January to 28 February 2027, access to the top-floor balcony will be limited.

Hikone Castle (Shiga)

Hikone's keep is small but busy with detail: JNTO calls it "an eclectic mix of different construction styles". Building began in 1604 and took about twenty years. The keep was made a National Treasure on 29 March 1952, and JNTO adds that the castle "never saw a real battle".

The climb starts well before the keep. The castle's own figures put it at "About 140 steps with an approximately 50-meter difference in elevation" from each gate up to the inner bailey, and the keep's stairs are steeper still, at "62 degrees from the 1st to 2nd floor and 60 degrees from the 2nd to 3rd floor". Free walking sticks are handed out, but there are no lifts, and a wheelchair cannot reach the keep. A quick visit takes a little under an hour: about 10 minutes on foot from the front gate up to the keep, 15 to 20 minutes inside, and 10 minutes back down.

Himeji Castle (Hyogo)

JNTO describes Himeji as "both a Japanese National Treasure, and a UNESCO World Heritage site", and notes that "there are parts of the castle that date back as far as the 1400s", though, according to the Japan Castle Association, building on the castle you see today began in 1601. The way up is long, and the castle warns that "It’s like climbing a small mountain to get to the main keep." Next to the castle is Kokoen, a Japanese garden, and a combined ticket covers both.

Our short video follows a visit in the same order you would walk it, from the Otemon gate across the free outer grounds to the main keep, with the 2026 ticket price and the train from Shin-Osaka. More castle walks are in our Japan virtual tour.

Matsue Castle (Shimane)

Matsue is on the Sea of Japan side of western Honshu, a long train ride from Osaka. JNTO describes its "ashen black wooden structure" and calls it "the second largest of Japan’s original castles, and the only one remaining in the San’in region". It also notes that "The original keep, completed in 1611, may appear to be five stories at first glance, but it's actually six." The castle lists four roofs and five floors above ground, plus one below. JNTO adds that "From the top floor you have a 360-degree view over the town".

The ticket price went up on 1 July 2026 to pay for a large repair of the keep, and primary and junior high school pupils now go in free. You take off your shoes at the entrance and carry them in a bag.

Bitchu Matsuyama Castle (Okayama)

This is the one castle of the twelve that takes real effort. Its official website states: "Located near the peak of Mt. Gagyu at an elevation of 430 m, Bitchu Matsuyama Castle is the only mountain castle in Japan with a still-existing original castle tower." The keep itself is small, just two storeys; most of the visit is the climb.

The famous view is of the castle above a sea of cloud. The Takahashi City tourist association gives the season as late September to early April, best in October and November, and JNTO adds that "the mist is at its thickest during the colder months". That view is not from the castle but from a viewing deck on a separate peak, about 20 minutes by taxi from Bitchu-Takahashi Station. JNTO also warns that wild Japanese macaques live at the foot of the mountain, so watch them from a distance.

Getting up takes planning. You can take a taxi or drive to Fuigo Pass, the parking area below the castle, and then walk 700 metres, about 20 minutes, to the keep; allow about two hours for the visit from there. On foot from Bitchu-Takahashi Station it is about an hour and a half each way.

Marugame Castle (Kagawa)

At Marugame the walls are the main event. The city calls it the castle with the highest stone walls in Japan, and the keep, one of the twelve originals, sits on top of them. The city says Ikoma Chikamasa and his son Kazumasa built it from 1597, over five years; JNTO gives a longer history that "dates back to 1587", so you will see both dates. From the top you look out across the city to the Seto Inland Sea, and in spring JNTO counts "over 100 cherry blossom trees" in the grounds.

Matsuyama Castle (Ehime)

Matsuyama Castle looks down on the city from its hilltop. The castle's own website says that "Kato Yoshiaki began the construction of Matsuyama Castle in 1602." and that "It is one of the biggest castles in Japan, standing on a hill above a plain." JNTO explains that "Resting at the top of Mt. Katsuyama, the castle can be reached by ropeway, chairlift, or on foot." The website carries a short warning for the second of those: "*The lift will be suspended in case of rain." The keep is not alone at the top. JNTO points out that "many of its wings still exist". At its foot, on the site of the castle's old palace, are the Ninomaru Historical Gardens.

Uwajima Castle (Ehime)

JNTO calls Uwajima "Small, but offering no shortage of historical significance". The city says the castle was founded in 1596 by Todo Takatora, and the present keep dates from around 1666. The keep stands at the top of a hill, and the walk up is part of the visit: about 15 minutes on foot from JR Uwajima Station to the foot of the castle, and about 35 minutes in all to reach the keep. From March 2026 to March 2027 the city is repairing the old gatehouse of the Kori family at the north entrance; you can still walk up that way, using the detour on the right of the entrance.

Kochi Castle (Kochi)

Kochi Castle stands in the centre of Kochi city. JNTO says that "it served as a residence of the region’s feudal lord, rather than being strictly for military purposes", and the keep has four roofs and six floors inside. The ticket also covers the Kaitokukan, the Higashi-tamon and the Roka-mon. The Kochi Castle Museum of History is nearby, and a set ticket covers the castle and the museum's permanent exhibition.

Rebuilt castles worth visiting

Outside the twelve, most of the castles with famous names were rebuilt in the 20th century, usually in concrete. They stand on their old stone walls and moats, the keeps hold museums, and several have lifts, so they are easier on the legs than the originals. Plans change, though: in 2026 two of the best-known rebuilt keeps are closed inside, and Okinawa's Shurijo Castle is about to open its rebuilt main hall.

Osaka Castle (Osaka)

The Osaka Castle Main Tower calls the keep you see the third on the site, after the keeps of the Toyotomi and the Tokugawa. It went up in 1931 and has been a museum from the start, with a collection about Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the Warring States period and the castle's own history. It was registered as a national Tangible Cultural Property in 1997, and Osaka City made it a designated cultural property in 2025. The stone walls, the moats and the old gates and turrets around it, such as the Otemon gate and the Tamon and Sengan turrets, date from the Tokugawa rebuilding or later.

Because it is a museum, Osaka works differently from an original keep. Everyone rides the lift straight up to the fifth floor, climbs the stairs to the eighth floor, and then walks all the way down; wheelchair users and people who find walking hard can use the lift for every floor in both directions. The sixth floor is a closed corridor with nothing to see. Staff who speak foreign languages sit at the desks on the first and fifth floors, and they lend free audio guides in English, Korean, Chinese and Japanese until 17:00. On the second floor you can try on a copy of a Warring States warlord's helmet with a jinbaori, the coat worn over armour, and have your photo taken, for 500 yen a time.

There are no coin lockers in the keep. The ticket office keeps bags for 100 yen each, and the castle asks you not to bring strollers inside; staff keep them free of charge at the gate. Students from overseas pay the student price with an ISIC card, and children from abroad aged 15 or under go in free with a passport or other proof of age. If you would like a samurai class on the same day, SAMURAI HONOR is a dojo right by Osaka Castle Park; our samurai experience guide explains what its courses include.

We walked from the park up to the keep with a camera, so you can see the route before you go.

Nagoya Castle (Aichi)

The castle's website says "Nagoya Castle was completed in 1615 by the Shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu." Its page on the keep gives 1612 as the year the keep was built, so you will see both dates. It was a giant: topped with golden shachihoko, roof ornaments shaped like a tiger-headed fish, and "boasting the largest floorspace of any tower keep". In 1930 it became the first castle in Japan named a National Treasure. The keeps burned in the air raids of 1945 and were "restored in steel reinforced concrete in 1959".

You cannot go inside the keep now. The castle explains: "After 60 years of service, aging and earthquake resistance problems have forced the closure of the keeps." Its website describes a project to rebuild the keep in wood.

What you can go inside is the Hommaru Palace. The castle notes that "The Hommaru Palace features extensive use of valuable hinoki cypress wood", and its metal fittings and wall paintings have been recreated by master craftsmen and artists. The rules are simple: "Please remove your shoes at the entrance." Slippers are provided if you have bare feet or stockings, flash photos are not allowed, and the castle warns that "air conditioning and toilets are not installed", so use the toilets before you go in. Free lockers for suitcases and large bags stand just inside the palace entrance.

Kumamoto Castle (Kumamoto)

Kumamoto Castle's website says the castle was "completed in 1607 by Kato Kiyomasa", the first lord, and that in 1632 Hosokawa Tadatoshi took it over. Its most famous moment came in the samurai's last war: "In 1877, Kumamoto Castle became the battleground for the Satsuma Rebellion against the Meiji Government". Just before the fighting began, the castle towers and the whole palace burned down. "In 1960, the exteriors of the large and small castle towers were reconstructed of steel-reinforced concrete."

The 2016 Kumamoto earthquake damaged the castle badly, and the towers went through years of repair. The castle states: "Kumamoto Castle is exhibiting its overall renewal from June 28, 2021." Inside, the floors tell the story from Kato Kiyomasa to the earthquake, and the entrance, in the basement of the small tower, shows an Edo-period kitchen built around the castle's original walls and wells. "Now, visitors can enjoy top-floor views from this castle tower."

Kumamoto has more rules than most castles, and they matter. "There are no luggage lockers for storing large luggage within the ticketed area", and "wheeled luggage is not allowed inside the main castle tower", so leave suitcases in the paid lockers in front of the Ninomaru Rest Area or the tourist information centre at Josaien. "Photography and video recording are permitted for personal use only." The castle goes further than most: "Posting or streaming photos/videos on social media is not allowed." Tour groups should know that "Guided tours or explanations by guides or tour conductors are not permitted inside the main castle tower." The three lifts in the tower are kept for wheelchair and stroller users and people who have trouble with stairs; ask the staff at the tower entrance. Josaien, below the castle, is also where the castle's samurai performers appear, and our samurai experience guide covers them.

Shurijo Castle (Okinawa)

Shurijo is not a samurai castle. It belongs to the story of the Ryukyu Kingdom, which ruled Okinawa before it became part of Japan, and its gates, with red roof tiles and red pillars, look nothing like the castles of Honshu. The park's website puts it this way: "Shurijo Castle symbolizes the history and culture of Okinawa, and its history is that of the Ryukyu Kingdom itself."

The main hall, the Seiden, burned down in a fire in 2019. Building work on a new one began in November 2022, and it opens to visitors on 23 November 2026. The park is closed all day on 22 November for the opening ceremony and on the morning of 23 November. From 23 November the ticket price goes up, and the inside of the main hall can be seen only with a timed booking in 30-minute slots. The booking costs nothing extra, and the price is the same whether you go into the main hall or not. The rest of the paid area needs no booking.

If the day you want is full, there may still be space on the day: tickets for an open slot are sold online and at the Kofukumon ticket office until 15 minutes before it starts. One payment covers up to nine tickets. Visitors who go in free must book too, but children who have not started school do not. Tickets for visits from 1 January 2027 go on sale at 13:00 on the 1st of the month, two months before the visit.

Hiroshima Castle (Hiroshima)

Hiroshima Castle was built by the warlord Mori Terumoto at the end of the 16th century, and the Japan Castle Association dates it to 1589. Its keep collapsed in the atomic bombing on 6 August 1945. In 1958 it was rebuilt in reinforced concrete for the Hiroshima Reconstruction Exposition, copying the old outside, and after the exposition it opened as a museum.

That museum closed on 22 March 2026 after about 68 years, because the concrete had worn and the equipment was old. The city says it has no plan to pull the keep down, the outside can still be seen, and it is studying how the keep might be restored. The museum's work passes to a new Hiroshima Castle Sannomaru History Museum: the ground-floor guidance and hands-on area is planned to open on 1 June 2027, and the main exhibition rooms upstairs on 1 October 2027. For now, you can see the keep only from the outside.

Castles in and near Tokyo

Tokyo has no castle keep you can enter. The city grew up around Edo Castle, the seat of the Tokugawa shoguns, and the Imperial Palace now stands on its grounds. For a keep with a museum, the nearest choice in this guide is Odawara; for an original keep, it is a day trip to Matsumoto.

East Gardens of the Imperial Palace (Edo Castle)

According to the Japan Castle Association, Ota Dokan founded Edo Castle in 1457, and it lists the first three Tokugawa shoguns, Ieyasu, Hidetada and Iemitsu, as its later builders, with the years 1606, 1622 and 1637. Today only the stone base of the keep, the tenshudai, is left. The Imperial Household Agency opened the East Gardens to the public in 1968 on parts of the castle's Honmaru, Ninomaru and Sannomaru, and they are free.

Inside are the Fujimi-yagura turret, the Fujimi Tamon defence house, the Hyakunin Bansho guardhouse, the keep base and the Ninomaru Garden. You enter by the Ote-mon, Hirakawa-mon or Kitahanebashi-mon gate. Bags are checked at the entrance, and the Imperial Household Agency suggests leaving luggage in a station locker or at your hotel. A free audio guide app covers the gardens.

Odawara Castle (Kanagawa)

The Japan Castle Association dates Odawara Castle to the middle of the 15th century, under the Omori family. The keep standing now was rebuilt in 1960 to its Edo-period look, following models and plans made when it was rebuilt in the Hoei era of the early 1700s. It was a project for the city's 20th anniversary, and many local people gave money to it through the One Roof Tile campaign. It is reinforced concrete, 38.7 metres high, with three roofs and four floors inside; the railing around the top floor was added in the rebuild.

Inside are armour, swords, picture maps and old documents. The top floor is about 60 metres above sea level, and on a clear day you can see over Sagami Bay as far as the Boso Peninsula. Since 1 March 2026, the keep ticket also covers the Tokiwagi-mon SAMURAI Hall in the gate below. On the ground floor of that gate you can put on armour for 500 yen, from 9:30 to 16:00, last entry 15:30.

Matsumoto as a day trip from Tokyo

If you want to stand inside an original keep, Matsumoto, described above, is the one to aim for from Tokyo. The Azusa limited express takes about 2 hours 30 minutes, and the castle is about 20 minutes' walk from Matsumoto Station. Leave early, because the last entry to the keep is at 16:30.

Castles in and near Kyoto

In Kyoto itself the castle to visit is Nijo, and two of the five National Treasure keeps, Hikone and Himeji, are within reach by train.

Nijo Castle (Kyoto)

Nijo is the castle of the Tokugawa shoguns in Kyoto. The Japan Castle Association gives 1603 and 1626 as its building years, under Tokugawa Ieyasu and his grandson Iemitsu. The keep is long gone and only its base remains, but six buildings are National Treasures and 22 are Important Cultural Properties, and the castle keeps 1,016 painted wall and door panels. After the shoguns it became an imperial villa, and the castle's website heads its pages "World Heritage Site Former Imperial Villa".

Nijo is about palaces, not a keep. The Ninomaru-goten, the shoguns' palace, needs its own ticket on top of the castle ticket, and the Honmaru-goten, a second palace, can be seen only with an advance booking and a further ticket. Both palaces have their own closing days, so check them before you choose a date. Show a one-day subway pass, or a subway and bus pass, and the castle ticket drops from 800 to 700 yen.

Hikone and Himeji from Kyoto

Hikone Castle looks out over Lake Biwa; from Kyoto, the station to aim for is JR Hikone. Himeji is on the same Shinkansen line as Kyoto, beyond Shin-Osaka, from where the trip takes about 30 minutes. Both are described above with their prices and hours.

100 Great Castles and castle stamps

The 100 Great Castles of Japan is a list drawn up by the Japan Castle Association, a public interest foundation, to mark 40 years since it became a foundation, with the backing of the Ministry of Education and the Agency for Cultural Affairs. Anyone could put a castle forward through the association's bulletin and website from August to October 2005, and on 1 December 2005 a panel of experts in architecture, civil engineering, archaeology and history made the choice. The list was announced on 13 February 2006, and the castles received their certificates on 6 April 2006, Castle Day. The panel looked at whether a castle was a fine cultural property or historic site, whether famous events in history took place there, and whether it was typical of its era or its region. Every prefecture has at least one castle on the list and no more than five.

The list is wider than keeps. It starts with the chashi fort sites of the Nemuro Peninsula in Hokkaido at number 1 and ends with Shurijo in Okinawa at number 100, and it runs from Yoshinogari, a moated village that the association treats as the beginning of Japanese castles, to Goryokaku, the Western-style fort in Hakodate. Many entries have no keep at all, only walls, moats or earthworks. All twenty castles in this guide are on it.

How the stamp rally works

Each castle on the list keeps its own rubber stamp, and the stamp rally has run since June 2007. To be certified you collect the stamps in the official stamp book and send the book to the association; certification can take one to two months. For checking where each stamp is kept, and for maps, the association suggests a free smartphone app run by another company. Stamps sometimes move and hours change; look again before you set off.

The association is firm about manners. It sees the stamps as a keepsake of having walked the castle yourself, not the goal, and says that rushing from stamp to stamp misses the point. Do not ask for a stamp outside opening hours, and do not complain when a stamp is kept inside a paid area. Some castle grounds include shrines or temples, which should be treated with respect. Asking for stamps by post is strictly banned, and the association may refuse certification for very bad behaviour.

Castle seals (gojoin)

A gojoin, a castle seal, is a separate thing: a printed paper slip that you buy as a souvenir, not a stamp you press yourself. Where each castle sells its seals changes from year to year. Hikone moved its ten kinds of seal to the Omote-mon ticket office on 1 April 2026, while its 100 Great Castles stamp stays in the Kaikoku Kinenkan hall. Inuyama and Uwajima sell their seals only on the spot, with no orders by post, and Uwajima takes no requests by phone or email either. Maruoka has two seals just for 2026, at 300 yen each: one for the castle's 450th anniversary, on sale from 27 June to 31 December, and one for October and November, on sale from 1 October to 30 November.

Castles through the seasons

Castle grounds are public parks for most of the year, and each season brings something different. At Hirosaki, JNTO lists the cultural events held in the grounds, including the "Snow Lantern Festival, the Hirosaki Neputa Festival, and the Hirosaki Cherry Blossom Festival". Spring is the busiest season at almost every castle, autumn is the most comfortable, summer is hot inside the wooden keeps, and winter brings shorter hours and the New Year closures. Our Japanese festivals guide goes through the year month by month, from the winter snow festivals to the cherry blossom festivals.

Spring: cherry blossom

Most castles are planted with cherry trees, and late March to early May is when the grounds are fullest. JNTO calls Hirosaki's grounds "widely regarded as one of the best spots for cherry blossom viewing in Japan", and the park describes a tunnel of blossom and night light-ups during the festival, when the paid area stays open until 21:00. Further south, JNTO adds that "Like many of Japan’s castles, Himeji is a great destination for cherry blossom viewing". Hikone has about 1,100 trees, mainly around the inner moat; in 2026 the castle announced full bloom on 6 April, and the traffic controls for the blossom season ended on 9 April. At Maruoka, JNTO notes that hundreds of cherry trees are lit with paper lanterns in spring.

Matsumoto has about 300 cherry trees, including round the outer moat. A picnic under the blossom, hanami, is fine in the open areas of the park if you use common sense, but fires and barbecues are not allowed. You may not eat in the Honmaru garden, the paid area around the keep, so spread your mat in the park outside the inner moat and take your rubbish home. At Inuyama, spring brings both the blossom and the Inuyama Festival, which JNTO notes is recognised by UNESCO. Expect queues: Matsumoto warns that Golden Week, at the start of May, brings long waits and limits on entry to the keep.

Summer: heat, boats and long days

Inside an original keep there is nothing to cool you down. Himeji's summer notice starts with a plain warning, "Please be careful of heatstroke.", and goes on to explain why: "There are no air conditioning units, elevators, or escalators inside Himeji Castle." The castle asks you to bring your own drink, in a bottle you can close, and to keep drinking as you go round. A hat, a parasol, sunglasses and something to keep you cool all help, and the staff carry parasols and drink regularly too. Hikone, a hill castle with about 140 steps to the keep, has almost no drinks on sale on the way up, so bring your own.

Summer has its pleasures. Hirosaki's park is green and shady, good for a walk or a picnic. JNTO says that at Himeji "Visitors can enjoy boat rides in the castle’s moat during summer months", and Inuyama's summer brings cormorant fishing and fireworks on the Kiso River. Mid-August is Obon, the holiday when many Japanese families travel, and Matsumoto expects the same queues as at Golden Week; it opens for longer from 8 to 16 August 2026. Kochi may also open for longer at Golden Week and during its Yosakoi dance festival.

Autumn: leaves and lanterns

Autumn is cooler for the climb, and the grounds change colour. At Matsue, JNTO suggests a boat tour round the moats, which lets you see the castle from every angle, along with Shiomi Nawate, the samurai street beside it, and adds: "In October, the castle is illuminated at night, with thousands of paper lanterns adorning the moat and castle grounds." Inuyama is popular all year, JNTO says, "particularly during the autumn season, when the grounds and the surrounding valley become vivid with the colour of changing leaves".

Hirosaki has red leaves against green pines, a chrysanthemum and autumn leaves festival, and night light-ups of the leaves. Matsumoto holds a chrysanthemum show from late October to early November and its National Treasure Matsumoto Castle Week from 3 to 10 November 2026. October and November are also the best months for the sea of cloud below Bitchu Matsuyama, according to the Takahashi City tourist association. In Okinawa, the rebuilt main hall of Shurijo opens to the public on 23 November 2026.

Winter: snow and the New Year

Winter is the quiet season. At Hirosaki the inner area is free from 24 November to 31 March, and in winter the park holds its "Hirosaki Castle Snow Festival where the locals create many wonderful sculptures that are beautifully lit up during night time". Hours are shorter almost everywhere: Uwajima closes at 16:00 from November to February, Matsuyama at 16:30 in December and January, and the East Gardens at 16:00 from November to February. Bitchu Matsuyama may close when it snows, Inuyama sometimes has snow too, and the balcony round Inuyama's top floor has limited access from 4 January to 28 February 2027 for repairs.

Over the New Year, most castles close for a few days at the end of December. Hikone stays open, and in December 2025 it put up the New Year decorations of kadomatsu pine, kagami mochi rice cakes and a shimenawa rope; note that its Kaikoku Kinenkan, where the stamp is, closes from 25 to 31 December. Hikone, Matsue, Marugame and Uwajima are open every day. Matsumoto closes only from 29 to 31 December, then opens on 1 to 3 January from 10:00 to 15:30, last entry 15:00.

Castles after dark

Several castles are worth a second look in the evening. Himeji is lit white from sunset to midnight, with a 15-minute seasonal light show at 20:00 and 21:00 every day, and on some nights it is lit in other colours for awareness campaigns. Matsumoto's keep is lit from sunset to 22:00 all year. Hirosaki's paid area stays open until 21:00 during the cherry blossom festival, and its autumn leaves are lit too. Matsue has its paper lanterns in October.

Visiting tips

Original keeps are old wooden buildings with their own rules, and rebuilt ones are museums with rules of a different kind. These are the points that catch visitors out.

Shoes and stairs

In original keeps and palaces, shoes come off and you walk on bare wooden boards. Himeji hands out plastic bags made from plants at the entrance for your shoes, but asks: "Please bring a shoe bag." The wooden floors are slippery, and heels can damage the building. Do not pull the bag over your shoes as a cover: the shoes you walk in outside must come off before you enter. Bring thick socks, or a pair of soft shoes for indoors. At Hikone shoes are strictly banned in the keep and turrets, and there are racks to leave them on.

Himeji's warning about the stairs applies to every original keep: "Although there are handrails, the stairs are very steep and narrow." Matsumoto explains why there is no lift or escalator: the keep is a National Treasure that cannot be altered, and it was built for battle, with narrow, steep stairs and high steps. Himeji asks visitors to wear comfortable clothes, and it helps to keep one hand free for the rail. At Hikone, whose keep stairs are as steep as 62 degrees, you may not take a cane or umbrella into the keep. Folding ones are allowed in, but a folding cane has to stay folded on the stairs. At Kumamoto, paths get slippery in the rain, so wear shoes with non-slip soles.

Time and crowds

Matsumoto says a visit to the keep takes 30 to 40 minutes when it is quiet and about an hour when it is busy, and its visitor information gives an average of 45 to 60 minutes. Three castles show the queue on their websites. Matsumoto gives the current wait to the keep entrance and has live cameras; Himeji's Today box shows how long it currently takes to get from the ticket office into the keep, and how busy the keep is; and Inuyama gives a live waiting estimate and a crowd forecast for the year, and may limit entry. At Matsumoto, a volunteer guide group and volunteer interpreter guides are based in the castle park, except at New Year and some other periods.

Wheelchairs, strollers and luggage

The original keeps cannot be reached by wheelchair. Himeji asks that, for safety, wheelchair users come with about three experienced helpers, and notes that neither the keep nor the turrets has a lift. Matsumoto lends wheelchairs free, a limited number with no booking, though they cannot go into the keep. It has accessible toilets, one in the Honmaru garden and two in the park, and none in the keep. Strollers are kept at the management office or the keep entrance, and coin lockers in the Honmaru garden take hand luggage, with large bags kept at the shop, but not valuables or anything fragile. At Maruoka, the castle's Machiyori Market building has toilets, a rest area, luggage storage and wheelchairs to borrow, with coin lockers there and at the ticket office. At Hikone, wheelchair users can see the moat area, the museums and the boat.

Pets

Matsumoto does not allow pets in the paid area, even in a bag or cage, but they are fine in the park; assistance dogs are welcome if you contact the castle first. Kumamoto allows no pets in the tower, except assistance dogs, and in the ticketed outdoor areas only in a fully closed carrier; in the free areas, keep them on a lead. Uwajima asks for a short lead, about 1.5 metres, and for you to clean up after your pet, and allows no pets in the keep or the museum, again except assistance dogs.

Rules on the grounds

The basic rules hardly change from castle to castle. Do not climb on the stone walls, and do not light fires, barbecues or stoves. Inside Osaka's tower, do not take photos where they are not allowed, carry gear that gets in other people's way, eat or drink, talk loudly, sit on the floor or walk while looking at your phone. In Nagoya's Hommaru Palace, keep your hands off the sliding doors, paper screens and metal fittings, do not use your phone, eat or drink, and do not use flash; the staff will help you turn it off.

Castle prices and hours compared

The two tables set the adult tickets, main opening hours and closing days side by side, as the castles listed them on 18 October 2026. Last entry is usually 30 to 60 minutes before closing, and the details are in each castle's section above.

Children often go free. Himeji and Kochi charge nothing under 18, Uwajima nothing for anyone of high school age or younger, Matsue nothing for primary and junior high school pupils, Marugame nothing for junior high school pupils and younger; at Matsumoto, children pay 400 yen. If you will visit Himeji twice in a year, its 5,000-yen annual ticket pays for itself on the second visit. At Bitchu Matsuyama, the shuttle bus that runs on busy days costs 600 yen for adults and 300 yen for children from 5 September 2026, with children not yet at school free. Hiroshima is not in the tables, because its keep has been closed since 22 March 2026.

Which castles to choose

JNTO's article on Matsue puts the choice in perspective: most of the castles you will come across are modern reconstructions, and "Only a handful still remain in their original wooden construction". With limited time, one original keep and one good park will tell you more than a long list of stamps. These four suit four different kinds of trip.

If you have a little more time, add Matsumoto, with its black keep, from Tokyo, or Hikone, on Lake Biwa in Shiga, from Kyoto. For a museum with a lift and a view over a big city, choose Osaka or Kumamoto.

Planning by base city

You rarely need to build a trip around a castle. Most of them stand in the middle of a city or one train ride from it, so start from the places you are already sleeping in and see which castles are close. The rebuilt castles are mostly in big cities, while the twelve originals are scattered from Aomori down to Shikoku. Our Japan itinerary guide helps if you want to work a castle into a route across the country.

From Tokyo, the East Gardens of Edo Castle are in the city, Odawara is in Kanagawa, and Matsumoto is about 2 hours 30 minutes away on the Azusa limited express. Nagoya has its own castle, with Inuyama about 25 minutes away by Meitetsu and Matsumoto about 2 hours on the Shinano limited express. A base in Kyoto or Osaka gives you Nijo and Osaka Castle in town, Himeji, about 30 minutes from Shin-Osaka by Shinkansen, and Hikone, in Shiga Prefecture beside Lake Biwa, which has its own JR station. Okayama is the base for Bitchu Matsuyama, about 35 minutes by limited express to Bitchu-Takahashi, and Himeji is about 20 minutes away by Shinkansen. On Shikoku, Marugame is about 15 minutes on foot from JR Marugame Station, and Matsuyama, Uwajima and Kochi complete the four. In the far south, Kumamoto is in Kyushu and Shurijo in Naha, Okinawa.

Four castles need more time. Hirosaki is about four hours from Tokyo. Bitchu Matsuyama needs a taxi or car to Fuigo Pass and a 20-minute climb from there, with about two hours for the visit. Uwajima is in the south-west of Shikoku, and the walk from the station to the keep takes about 35 minutes. Maruoka is about an hour by bus from Fukui Station, and its keep is under repair until November 2027.

One more check before you go: the date on each source, as well as the hours it gives. Several pages are older than they seem. Osaka's list of stamps is from March 2023, Himeji's visiting notes are from October 2025 and its heat and evening notes from June 2026, Hikone's notices run from December 2025 to June 2026, and the JNTO articles carry no date at all.

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To cite or link to this page: Japanese castles to visit: the twelve original castles from Hirosaki, Matsumoto and Maruoka to Himeji, Matsue, Bitchu Matsuyama and the four in Shikoku, the rebuilt castles of Osaka, Nagoya, Kumamoto, Shuri and Odawara, castles near Tokyo and Kyoto, the 100 Great Castles stamps, the best seasons, and 2026 prices and hours compared — Japan Pocket Guide, https://japanpocketguide.com/culture/japanese-castles/ Copy