- Type
- Castle
- Origins
- 1585 · 16th century per Wikidata: founding, first mention or construction
- Location
- Wakayama Prefecture, Japan
- Commissioned by
- Toyotomi Hidenaga
- Visiting
- probably – Wikidata lists it as a museum or gives tickets, opening hours or visitor numbers; check before you go
- Coordinates
- 34.2276°, 135.1720°
History
The castle was raised in 1585 on the orders of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who after conquering Kii Province gave it to his half-brother Hidenaga; the famous castle builder Tōdō Takatora is thought to have worked on the design. After the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 the Asano clan took over, and in 1619 it passed to Tokugawa Yorinobu, tenth son of Ieyasu and founder of the Kii branch, one of the three houses eligible to provide a shogun. The keep burned after a lightning strike in 1846 and was rebuilt a few years later. An American air raid destroyed it in July 1945, and a reinforced-concrete replica went up in 1958.
What to see
Stone walls and ramps climb to the hilltop, where the reconstructed keep complex – a large and a small tower linked by corridors – houses a museum of Tokugawa heirlooms, armour and swords. The top floor looks out over the city, the mouth of the Kino River and the bay. Below the hill the original Okaguchi-mon gate survives, the covered Ōhashi-rōka bridge over the moat has been rebuilt, and nearby lies the Edo-period Momijidani garden, at its best in autumn.
Wikipedia article Official website Wikidata Q1151269
Popularity: articles about this site in 13 Wikimedia projects (Wikipedia language editions and others).