WAKAYAMA CASTLE

Introduction

Wakayama Castle crowns Torafusu hill in the middle of Wakayama city, Japan. After Toyotomi Hideyoshi pacified Kii province in 1585 he had his brother Hidenaga raise the fortress, and from 1619 it became the seat of the Kii Tokugawa, one of the three cadet houses of the shogunal family; the eighth lord, Tokugawa Yoshimune, went on to become the eighth shogun. Its stone ramparts preserve all three historical masonry styles — rough nozura-zumi, fitted uchikomi-hagi and tightly cut kirikomi-hagi — making the site a textbook of Japanese wall building. The linked keep burned in the air raids of 1945 and was rebuilt in reinforced concrete in 1958; from the top you look over the city to the Kii Channel. The Ohashi-rōka is a reconstructed roofed bridge that slopes down to Nishinomaru Garden, the nationally designated Momijidani scenic garden of pond, rockwork and maples. Some 1,600 cherry trees around the moat make this one of Kansai's favourite blossom spots, and a small zoo plus costumed ninja guides round out the visit.

✨ Highlights

🛈 Practical Info