It is estimated that Japan once had 5000 castles but these days there are only about 200 of them with a good proportion of that number just partially remaining. I’ve said before that I am always interested to see castles when I discover that a city has one although I don’t really know why as I do think they’re all kind of similar. Over the space of a few days I covered around 700 kilometres in visiting three of them in three different prefectures. Not one of them features in Japan’s top 100 castles list which almost makes them more visitable in my book!

1. Kishiwada-jo, Osaka.

The 2021 film ‘G.I. Joe: Snake Eyes‘ brought this castle to my attention, and indeed I did visit it at the end of that same year. However, it was a Monday when I went there and so I discovered it was closed! It was an amateur mistake and I really should have known better! As much as I still enjoyed seeing it externally I really wanted to get inside the castle grounds and so I vowed to return.

That finally happened back in June of this year when I flew to Osaka as it was more conveniently located to this castle which would be my first stop on my whirwind two-day tour of Osaka, Hyogo, Kyoto, Shiga and Aichi. Flying was also much cheaper than the Shinkansen (bullet train) too. Within minutes of landing at Kansai International Airport, I was on a train heading north to central Osaka but I disembarked at Takojizo which is actually a little closer to the castle than the neighbouring station Kishiwada. The inner-castle area is in itself a very picturesque spectacle.

Usually that’s enough for me but I made an exception with this one and paid the 300 yen entrance fee.

The views of the dry landscape garden from the third floor are rather specacular, and was actually designed for viewing from above. It is arranged with reference to topographical illustrations of the medieval castle with eight sets of stones positioned to represent various armies for guarding from the enemy in order to achieve and promote a message of peace.

The exhibition space explains the theme of the eight battle tactics (tiger, wind, dragon, cloud, snake, bird, earth and heaven armies) whilst displaying some interesting samurai armour.

2. Amagasaki-jo, Hyogo Prefecture.

I wasn’t even aware of this one until I was returning to the station by bus from the Skull Museum. I noticed it on Google Maps, and as it wasn’t too far from the station I went to check it out.

This small castle is in great condition but why? Well that is because it’s just a reconstruction that officially re-opened in March 2019. The original castle got demolished around 150 years ago but that was actually located somewhere nearby if I can be so vague!

It may be a new castle but it has managed to retain the atmosphere of old Japan. It was built by an individual and donated to the city. Entrance is 500 yen and there are five floors for visitors to explore and enjoy the various museum exhibits, interactive virtual reality, ninja and samurai costumes, observation deck and small gift shop.

3. Kitsuki-jo, Oita Prefecture.

A couple of days later I flew to Oita in Kyushu which is Japan’s most southerly main island. The Samurai-town of Kitsuki was my first port of call and I headed for the local castle which claims to be the smallest in Japan. It overlooks the town and Beppu Bay but by the time I got there the blue skies had made way for grey clouds so it looks a bit more depressing in my pictures than I had hoped for!

The castle features artefacts from the city’s feudal past such as armour, coins, maps and weaponry. That’s what I’m told anyway as I didn’t bother going inside as exploring one out of three in detail was enough for me.

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