There were once about 5000 castles in Japan, but today there are only about 50 left. Here are 10 favorite Japanese castles.
Himeji Castle
You may have seen this castle as a ninja training school in James Bond's You Only Live Twice. It also appeared in The Last Samurai, several Kurosawa movies, and in the TV miniseries, Shogun. Also known as the “White Heron Castle”, Himeji Castle was originally built in the 14th century, and then rebuilt in 1580.
Matsumoto Castle
Matsumoto Castle was built in the 16th century and is sometimes called Crow's Castle because of it's black color.
Maruoka Castle
Also known as "Mist Castle" because of the legendary mist that obscures the castle when enemies approach. Maruoka Castle was built in 1576 and is located in Sakai, Japan.
Hiroshima Castle
Hiroshima Castle was built in the 1590s and destroyed in WWII by an atomic bomb. It has since been rebuilt and is now a museum.
Fukuyama Castle (a.k.a. Hisamatsu Castle or Iyō Castle)
Originally built with a double moat in the 17th century, Fukuyama Castle was a major castle of the Edo Period. It was rebuilt after WWII and contains a history museum.
Kiyosu Castle
Built somewhere between 1394 and 1427, Kiyosu Castle is located in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It was a base of Oda Nobunaga who appeared in the Kurosawa movie Kagemusha, and as Goroda in James Clavell's Shogun.
Matsue Castle
Also known as the “Black Castle”, it is one of the few castles in Japan that is the original wooden form. From the outside it looks like a five-story castle, but has a hidden sixth-level. Matsue Castle was completed in 1622.
Nagoya Castle
Built in the early 16th century, Nagoya Castle was rebuilt after being destroyed in WWII where it was also used as a POW camp.
Okayama Castle
Okayama Castle is a spectacular black castle located in Okayama Japan sometimes called "Crow Castle".
Shimabara Castle
Shimabara Castle is a 5-story white castle located in Nagasaki Prefecture. The taxes imposed on the local farmers to build the castle were so severe that they revolted in an event called the Shimabara Rebellion. Shimabara Castle was completed in 1624.
Photos of Maruoka Castle, Matsue Castle, Okayama Castle, Kiyosu Castle and Nagoya Castle originally from Wikipedia and licensed under the GDFL.
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Amazing...straight out of a
Amazing...straight out of a kurawasa movie!
ur mom roflmao
ur mom roflmao
Thanks...
... for this very nice list of Japanese Castles.
Intersting
Nice images and quite useful information
re: castles in Japan
Mr. English Coffee Roasting co. -Japanis located under one of the ruins of the 4500 castles that was destroyed. It's still beautiful. Even if the castle isn't there anymore all of the stones, trees, and other landscape is.
Still amazing
Even after several years living here in Japan, seeing these pictures and visiting some of these castles, they are still very impressive. The history behind them is even more so.
its amazing how the castles
its amazing how the castles are still standing to day.
i like the ones next to the water!!.
it jus matches.
ALSO!! they look as the same outta the movie.!!
i wonder how they built these!!
they are jus SO! pretty!!.
Great list
I an still remember the first time I was able to enter a castle here in Japan. I felt like I was transported back in time.
are some of doe's fake?
Are some of does fake because i went to the kumamoto castle in japan and there were two tall buildings one small and one huge and the small one was real which wasnt that great and the huge one was a replica and it was lyk a scam because they were making fake castles to make us think they made that hundreds of yeats ago?
i mean wtf
AMAZING
feel like those are in heaven...........