Hikone Castle

From Jcastle.info

With the reconstructed lord's palace (castle museum), Hikone Castle is one of the most complete castles in Japan for you to visit and get a feeling for an Edo Period castle. Take your time to go into the gates and yagura that are open and take some time to walk around the outside of the moats. You'

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History

For his participation in the Battle of Sekigahara, Ii Naomasa was awarded the lands surrounding Sawayama Castle. Due to its inconvenient location and poor condition, he soon started planning for a new castle on a new location that would become Hikone Castle.

Unfortunately, Naomasa died soon after and the castle was actually begun under his son Naotsugu. It took 20 years and was completed under Naotsugu's brother Naotaka who had become lord of the castle in 1615. The main keep of Hikone-jo is famous for having used several types of gables and construction techniques to make it well fortified. The main keep and connected yagura are designated National Treasures. I find it amazing that the Ii family maintained their rule over Hikone Castle for over 250 years from the beginning of the Edo Period until the Meiji restoration.


Field Notes

With the reconstructed lord's palace (castle museum), Hikone Castle is one of the most complete castles in Japan for you to visit and get a feeling for an Edo Period castle. Take your time to go into the gates and yagura that are open and take some time to walk around the outside of the moats. You'll get fantastic views of the castle and all the great stone walls to better understand the scale of the castle too. One of the most impressive features of Hikone Castle is the climbing stone walls (Nobori Ishigaki). Refer to the album below for more information.

Outside the castle grounds, the Hikone Castle Town is full of remnants of the deep history of Hikone. Please be sure to also review the more in-depth article on Hikone Castle Town for more insights than what the albums below may show.

Nearby Sawayama Castle also offers great views of Hikone Castle. You can use the online mapping functions on this panorama photo taken from Sawayama Castle to zoom in and out for more detail.

Videos


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Gallery
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More Galleries and Feature Pages

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Main Areas

(61 photos)

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Main Keep Interior

(10 photos)

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Outer Moat Area

(31 photos)

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Castle Town

(37 photos)

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Genkyuen Garden

(18 photos)

Castle Profile
English Name Hikone Castle
Japanese Name 彦根城
Founder Ii Naomasa
Year Founded 1603
Castle Type Hilltop
Castle Condition Original main keep
Designations Top 100 Castles, has Important Cultural Properties, has National Treasures, National Historic Site, Special Historic Site
Historical Period Edo Period
Main Keep Structure 3 levels, 3 stories
Artifacts Tenbin Yagura, Taiko Gate and Tsuzuki Yagura, Nishinomaru 3 level yagura and tsuzukiyagura, main keep, Tsukiyagura, Tamon Yagura, umaya, Ninomaru Sawaguchi Tamon Yagura
Features main keep, gates, turrets, bridges, palace, samurai homes, water moats, trenches, stone walls, walls, castle town
Visitor Information
Access Hikone Station (Tokaido Honsen), walk 15 minutes
Hours Open 8:30-17:00; 800 yen (1200 yen including museum and garden)
Time Required 180 mins
URL Castle Website
Location Hikone, Shiga Prefecture
Coordinates 35.27649, 136.25174
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Admin
Added to Jcastle 1999
Contributor Eric
Admin Year Visited 1996, 2004, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2024
Admin Visits April 1996; February 21, 2004; March 1, 2019; October 8, 2021; Nov 3, 2022; February 20, 2024; July 7, 2024
Friends of JCastle
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4.71
(56 votes)
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