Hyogo Castle

Not much to see here but the canal is on the list of sightseeing for Kobe. Most of the castle area is under an Aeon Mall.

History

Hyogo Castle once stood at the heart of Hyōgo-tsu, the port town that flourished from medieval times through the Edo period. This area had long been strategic — it was even the site of Fukuhara-kyō, the brief capital established by Taira no Kiyomori (1118–1181). With the Sanyōdō Road running just north, Hyōgo served as a vital junction linking sea and land traffic across western Japan.

In 1578, during the Battle of Arioka (Itami), Araki Murashige rebelled against Oda Nobunaga. After Itami fell, Murashige fled to Hanakuma Castle, but Nobunaga’s general Ikeda Tsuneoki and his son Terumasa captured it the following year. Nobunaga rewarded Tsuneoki with Settsu Province, and in 1580, he built Hyōgo Castle near the harbor instead of occupying Hanakuma. The Settsu Meishō Zue records, “Tsuneoki demolished Hanakuma Castle, moved its stones, and built here.”

Tsuneoki governed briefly before being transferred to Ōgaki Castle in 1583. Hyōgo Castle then came under Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s control, with Katagiri Katsumoto stationed here. During this time it was known as Katagiri Jin’ya, and traces of a moat and a triple gate have been found in excavations.

In the Edo period, Hyōgo remained an important diplomatic and trade port — eleven of twelve Korean embassies to Japan landed here. Later, the site became the Hyōgo Jin’ya, first under the Amagasaki Domain (1617) and then directly under the shogunate from 1769.

After the Meiji Restoration, the former jin’ya served as the first Hyōgo Prefectural Office, but the remains were cleared by 1874 during port redevelopment and construction of the Shinkawa Canal.

Field Notes

Not much to see here but the canal is on the list of sightseeing for Kobe. Most of the castle area is under an Aeon Mall.

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Gallery

Jin'ya illustration

More Galleries and Feature Pages

[[|120px|link=Hyogo Castle - First Prefectural Office]]

Hyogo Castle - First Prefectural Office

(2 photos)

Castle Profile
English Name	Hyogo Castle
Japanese Name	兵庫城
Alternate Names	Katagiri Jinya, Hyogo Jinya
Founder	Ikeda Tsuneoki
Year Founded	1580
Castle Type	Flatland
Castle Condition	No main keep but other buildings
Historical Period	Edo Period
Features	gates
Visitor Information
Access	Hyogo Station (JR Kobe Line), walk 15 minutes.
Hours	Park, open any time
Time Required	15 mins
URL	Castle Website
Location	Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture
Coordinates	34.66533, 135.17269
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	2020
Contributor	Andrew A
Admin Year Visited	Viewer Contributed, 2025
Admin Visits	October 11, 2025

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