Hagi Castle

This was an amazing site to visit. Personally, I would include it as one of my favorite places in Japan. The castle ruins themselves are much more extensive than most books give them credit for. There are many stone walls around the base of the mountain and some that go right up to the edge of the o

History

After losing to Tokugawa at the Battle of Sekigahara, two thirds of Mōri Terumoto's lands were confiscated and he was locked into the smaller region of Choshu on the Japan Sea. If you visit Hagi you'll see how far and difficult a place it is to get to. The Mōri family continued to rule over Hagi until the Meiji restoration. In 1863, Mori Takachika moved the major government functions of the domain to Yamaguchi, because Hagi was too vulnerable to bombardment from the sea.

Refer to Hagi Castle Town for more details.

Field Notes

This was an amazing site to visit. Personally, I would include it as one of my favorite places in Japan. The castle ruins themselves are much more extensive than most books give them credit for. There are many stone walls around the base of the mountain and some that go right up to the edge of the ocean. There are remnants of clay walls and the remains from splitting stones for the walls at both the top of the mountain and on the coast. The castle ruins are amazing enough, but the castle town really sets Hagi Castle apart from others. I've never seen another castle town that's so well preserved.

There are several albums and samurai residences linked below or read through my feature article Hagi Castle Town that gives an overview of everything to see in the town.

GPS data for some of the photos around the castle main areas are approximations because my GPS device was frozen for awhile. They are good guesses based on street view and satellite imagery.

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Gallery

main keep foundation, moat, stone walls
Diorama from the Asa Mori Nagayamon
Diorama from the Asa Mori Nagayamon
Hagi Museum

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Castle Profile
English Name	Hagi Castle
Japanese Name	萩城
Alternate Names	Shizuki-jo
Founder	Mori Terumoto
Year Founded	1604
Castle Type	Flatland
Castle Condition	No main keep but other buildings
Designations	Top 100 Castles, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Top 100 Mountaintop Castles, National Historic Site
Historical Period	Edo Period
Features	gates, samurai homes, water moats, trenches, stone walls, walls, castle town
Visitor Information
Access	Higashi Hagi Sta. (San'in Line), bus
Hours	8:00-18:30 (Apr-Oct), 8:30-16:30 (Nov-Feb), 8:30-:18:00 (Mar). 210 yen
Time Required	180 mins, including the top of the mountain
URL	Castle Website
Location	Hagi, Yamaguchi Prefecture
Coordinates	34.41767, 131.38344
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	2007
Contributor	Eric
Admin Year Visited	2014, 2024
Admin Visits	November 21, 2014; March 20-21, 2024

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Hagi Castle

History

Field Notes

Gallery

More Galleries and Feature Pages

Nearby Samurai Homes