Hikone Castle

History

For his participation in the Battle of Sekigahara, Ii Naomasa was awardded Sawayama castle and surrounding lands. Due to its inconvenient locationa 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 magaed to maintain their rule over Hikone Castle over 250 from the beginning of the Edo Period until the Meiji restoration.

Visit Notes

A beautiful castle inside and out with many small interesting points here and there. Take your time to explore and enjoy it. Don't miss the various yagura and gates in a rush to get to the main main keep. With the reconstructed lord's palace and the original gardens on teh grounds of this castle, in some ways it demonstrates what a castle was really like even more so than Himeji Castle.

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Gallery

• 

  Nishinomaru 3 story yagura.

• 

  Tenbin Yagura and Rokabashi Bridge

• 

  stone foundation of the main keep and Honmaru

• 

  Otemon Bridge over the inner moat

• 

  main keep interior, top floor

• 

  Taiko Mon Gate

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  main keep interior

• 

  Sawaguchi Tamon Yagura, left section

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  Hikone Castle Museum and palace.

• 

  donjon front

• 

  Sawaguchi Tamon Yagura

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  nagayamon gate

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  moat

• 

  partially stone lined water moat

• 

  Inside the Sawaguchimon Yagura.

• 

  Inside the Tenbin Yagura

• 

  Inside the horse stables.

• 

  Nobori-ishigaki

• 

  Hidden loophole for guns

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, 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, tenshu, Tsukiyagura, Tamon Yagura, umaya, Ninomaru Sawaguchi Tamon Yagura
Features	main keep, gates, turrets, palace, water moats, stone walls, walls
Visitor Information
Access	Hikone Station (Tokaido Honsen), walk 15 minutes
Visitor Information
Time Required
Website	http://longlife.city.hikone.shiga.jp/castle/
Location	Hikone, Shiga Prefecture
Coordinates	35° 16' 35.36" N, 136° 15' 6.26" E
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Admin
Year Visited	1996, 2004
Visits	April 1996, February 21, 2004
Added to Jcastle	1999

4.71

(55 votes)

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ARTHatamoto

11 months ago

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Added Nobori-ishigaki to photo gallery

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ARTHatamoto

16 months ago

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When I first came to Hikonejō five years ago with friends we basically just went up to the main keep and down again. The castle made a lasting impression on me and I wanted to go back and explore it fully. I spent 4.5 hours exploring Hikonejō. I would have spent even more time here but the museum, which takes the form of the reconstructed omote-go'ten (outer palace), was closed at the time. I'd like to visit someday because the reconstruction incorporated traditional construction techniques and material and looks very nice. I welcome an excuse for a return visit as I'm confident Hikonejō has yet hidden nooks and interesting points I'm yet to discover.

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SnoworionGunshi

21 months ago

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I visited this castle on 13 November 2017. This is one of the best original castles I have visited and arguably a better example of a medieval castle than Himeji. From a historical perspective, it is easy to appreciate the thinking and strategy that went into designing this castle. The castle keep is magnificent and the castle grounds are arguably the best I have visited. It really has the effect of creating an atmosphere of stepping back in time. And not to mention the gardens. This castle nestled on the shores of Lake Biwa and about 1 hr by train from Kyoto is definitely worth the trip and not to be missed by anyone who has an affinity for Japanese castles. P.S - the town, small as it is, is also work a walk if for no other reason than to sample the Omi Beef and the Matcha ice cream. Make the trip. You will not regret it.

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Anonymous user #2

25 months ago

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This was one of my absolute favorite castles that I have visited in Japan. It was raining lightly the day I visited, and there was not a large crowd. I enjoyed the walk from the train station up to the castle, and spent far more time wandering the grounds than I did in the main keep.

The timber in the keep is fantastic. I love how the curves of the tree trunks are still visible. This was the best day of my whole trip.

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FurinkazanHatamoto

27 months ago

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I revisited this wonderful castle. It was raining this morning and i was going to an other destination. I still managed to get to the main spots and got in time for the train to my next destination.

In the sanju yagura of the nishinomaru is a nice VR video about the construction of the castle. There are also small videos of other castles. So you can see the tenshukaku of Takamatsujô and the wooden tower of the newly restored stone entrance of Yashima no ki.

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ARTHatamoto

30 months ago

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This is a very special castle facing Lake Biwako. It is one of 12 original keeps. The donjon is a wooden original! You can be in the very same rooms and corridors once patrolled by Samurai and Lords. If you are staying in Kyōto, it's just a short train ride away. Hikone -jō is one of my most favourite castles in Japan. I visited during gentle snow fall. After losing the battle of Sekigahara, being captured by peasants and executed, Ishida Mitsunari’s fiefdom was handed over to Ii Naomasa by Tokugawa Ieyasu. Ishida’s castle, Suwayamajō, was however a difficult place from which to rule, plus it had been attacked immediately after the Battle of Sekigahara by Kobayakawa Hideaki because he hated Ishida’s guts, so it was probably in a poor state. For these reasons Ii relocated his base to a new fort on Lake Biwa, Hikonejō. The transition from Sengoku Period to Edo Period, from war time to peace, saw many castles on easy-to-defend but remote mountaintops fall out of use in favour of flatland or hilltop castles along important routes and near towns as such castles could be used as economic and administrative centres. Ii’s sons, Naotsugu and Naotaka, successively built Hikonejō over the next two decades, cannibalising building materials from Suwayamajō, and it was completed in 1622. Much of the castle remains in its original state from this time, including an extensive moat network, and in addition some structures, such as the go’ten (castle palace), have been reconstructed. The Ii clan ruled until the Meiji Period, for over two and a half centuries.

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JohnsonbPeasant

33 months ago

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Visited 2014

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Anonymous user #1

38 months ago

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good castle

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Kiddus i2003Gunshi

65 months ago

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This is an outstanding castle and garden , the entry through those first gates after you leave the station is insane.

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Anonymous user #1

75 months ago

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Here's a comprehensive video about Hikone Castle in English.

http://www.y...=X2uMzVDwe5I

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RaymondWHatamoto

84 months ago

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There is a new exhibition about Sawayama Castle Ruin in the reconstructed concrete tamonyagura on the other side of the Sawaguchi (Sawa Gate) and opposite the original stables and Sawaguchi Tamonyagura. This exhibition includes both displays about Hikone Castle and Sawayama Castle Ruin. It runs from 15th September 2012 to 31st August 2014. Sawayama Castle was Ishida Mitsunari’s stronghold, and after the Battle of Sekigahara, it was dismantled and its materials used in the construction of Hikone Castle. There is an excellent little booklet about Sawayama Castle for sale. I picked this up yesterday after going to Sawayama Castle Ruin.

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BryanbaierPeasant

91 months ago

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Awesome castle. Not much inside but gorgeous from the outside. The grounds and garden are also excellent

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RaymondWHatamoto

96 months ago

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If you are going to visit Hikone Castle in the next month or two, there is a special exhibition of replica suits of samurai armour worn by the warlords and generals who were present at the Battle of Sekigahara. Not all of them are represented in the display, but just about all the major players are there in the exhibition of around 20 suits of armour. It is very interesting to see all the suits of armour side by side. There are detailed notes about each individual, but it is only in Japanese. The exhibition is held in the Tenbin Yagura from 10th September to 6th November.

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A22cricketAshigaru

100 months ago

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Went during Golden Week and waited about an hour to get into the donjon. Interior is sparse but the grounds are gorgeous.

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RaymondWHatamoto

101 months ago

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The second and third floors of the Sanju Yagura (an authentic turret) are now open to public. I was talking to one of the staff there, and she said they had only just made it accessible to the general public. Also, for the Hanami fans, Hikone Castle's cherry blossoms will be in full bloom later this week.

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RaymondWHatamoto

102 months ago

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This is my “local” castle, taking only 40 minutes to get to JR Hikone Station from where I live. I went at the end of March. They are removing some of the trees behind the Tenbin Yagura, so now you can see clearly see a section of wall running up from one side of the Tenbin Yagura up to the Honmaru ishigaki.

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Alamo6400Peasant

104 months ago

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noemasa li one of the tokugawa seven generals he built this hikone castle looks pretty amazing to me

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KrisGunshi

106 months ago

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Why I give Hikone five stars: *1 Original castle, *2 Outstanding museum, *3 Beautiful grounds, scenic views *4, Very well maintained, good explanations, *5 Hikonyan. When my brother and his friend visited Japan and said they wanted to 'see a castle' I picked this one. I'll confess part of the motivation was the shopping, but I honestly agree with the comment that it demonstrates the concept of a Japanese castle very well. They were very impressed with the buildings and museum but not so impressed by my behavior regarding a certain famous feline. The mascot, Hikonyan, a cat in a helmet, appears three times daily in the castle ground, usually to be mobbed by crowds of over-excited women drawn to his red helmet, green scarf, yellow bell and cute white face. (He is the only mascot I have ever seen who needed body guards). I believe Hikonyan is responsible for a large part of Hikone city's economy; Hikone is a great place to buy Japanese history goods and the only place you can buy official Hikonyan products. It's also host to the national character mascot festival, held towards the end of October, (something you will either want to see or want to avoid depending on your tastes). The stamp is in an office in one of the yagura, I believe.

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FurinkazanHatamoto

107 months ago

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This is really a must. The site is marvelous and the castle is very nice. There is not alot to see in the castle, but the structure alone is breathtaking. There are alot of structures where you can go inside. I paid 1000yen for the castle, museum and garden. If you want to see the castle alone it is 600yen. The museum has some artifacts related to the Sengokujidai, but most of it consists of tea-ceremony, noh-theatre and music instruments. The museum is actually a reconstruction of the goten, so you can feel how it was living in those buildings.

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RaymondWHatamoto

115 months ago

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Just got back to Hikone Castle. I'm pretty lucky that I live in Shiga as Hikone Station is only 40 minutes away by JR train (about an hour from Kyoto JR Station.) Anyway, just a heads up for those who like combining castle visits with some photography. Genkyu-en (Genkyu Garden) is having some work done on it, so the pond is pretty much drained. That means you won't be able to get the nice postcard-like photo of the pond in the garden in foreground with Hikone Castle up on the hill. All you get in the foreground is mud and more mud. On a sign, it said the work being done on the garden is from 22nd December 2009 to 9th March 2010. Also, the Keyaki Goten (The Ii Family Residence), next to the Genkyu-en is being renovated. It is scheduled to finish on 19th March 2010. The castle and the reconstructed palace are fine. No worries there. For anyone thinking of a visit to Hikone Castle, go in the morning. There will be less people, and you have the sun behind you for taking piccies of the castle keep. One more thing, if you want to see a very detailed model (1:300 scale) of what Hikone Castle and the surrounding castle town looked like in Edo Period, go inside the Ninomaru Sawaguchitamon-Yagura (Sawaguchitamon Turret).It is opposite the main entrance to the castle and palace. The cherry blossoms are still around a month away, but there are a few plum blossoms beginning to happen. BTW, hanami time = circus. Go early at 8:30am to avoid the crowds. After 10am, it becomes like a rugby rolling maul trying to get into the castle keep. Same goes for Golden Week at the beginning of May.

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RaymondWHatamoto

126 months ago

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I went to Hikone Castle today. The cherry blossoms have started but they won't be at their best until the middle of next week. There were plenty of people today, but nothing like last Golden Week. A sign was out in the afternoon saying that it takes around 30 minutes waiting in the queue to get into the tenshukaku (keep). The delay is in getting up and down the very steep stairs in the keep.

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Anonymous user #1

139 months ago

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Hikonejo is a great place to go to, because it has both many original buildings, and a fine collection of artifacts in the museum.

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Anonymous user #1

140 months ago

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Could you guys get more angles for the Castles? I was trying to build a model but didn't have enough veiws to get it perfect. It is my job to get things perfect. As you would know architects are usually perfectionists. I am incredibly reliant on these views to get ideas. Thank you for your time.

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