Kawagoe Castle
川越城
| Founder | Ota Doshin |  |
| Year | 1457 | |
| Type | Flatland | |
| Condition | Other Buildings | |
| Admin's Rating | ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ | |
| Historical Site | Prefectural Historic Site | |
| Historical Value | Top 100 Castles | |
| Location | Kawagoe, Saitama Pref | |
| Map | Google Map | |
| Access | Kawagoe Sta, Tobu Tojo Line, 20 min by tourist bus | |
| Website | Kawagoe Honmaru Palace | |
| Visited | March 25, 2006; Aug 4, 2012 | |
| Visitor Info. | 100 yen admission. Closed Mondays except National Holidays after which it is closed on Tuesday. Closed on the 4th Friday of each month except National Holidays. Closed Dec 28 - Jan 4. | Time Required: 60 minutes | |
| Notes | The only real remnants of the castle are the lord's palace, but it is well worth the trip because there are very few extant palaces. You can also spend the day exploring other historical sites in Kawagoe. | |
| History |
Kawagoe Castle was founded in 1457 by Ota Doshin and his son Dokan under the order of Uesugi Mochitomo. In 1546 it was taken over by the Hojo until it fell again to Hideyoshi as part of his attack on Odawara and the Hojo. When the Tokugawa established their base of power at Edo (Tokyo), Kawagoe Castle functioned as an important defensive position for Edo. The city of Kawagoe likewise prospered as an important logistical hub for the transportation of food and other goods to and from Tokyo. This focus on logistics and trade also led to the abundance of storehouse style buildings you can still see today. In this old part of town you can also get a feeling for an Edo Period castle town |
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| Photo Tags | ||
7 Viewer Comments
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RaymondW
on
My Page
August 26, 2012 at 09:33 AM
This is a fine palace to visit. It is one of only four original castle palaces left at Japanese castle sites. I went there a few weeks ago when I was in Tokyo. Apart from the actual palace, there isn't a lot of Kawagoe Castle's fortifications / structures left. Only part of the Nakanomon Moat, one of the outer moats, and the site of where the Fujimi Turret used to be can be seen now. The rest of the castle site has been pretty much been built over by modern day Kawagoe. For castle fans who collect the 100 Meijo stamps, there is a display of what all the 100 stamps look like in one of the rooms in the palace. There is also a pretty good book (in Japanese only) about the castle with lots of old period maps and a map of the original castle overlaid on a map of present-day Kawagoe.
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Kris
on
My Page
November 14, 2010 at 11:55 PM
I went here a long time ago on a bus tour with the local friendship centre in my area. I'd like to go back again now that I would have a better understanding of it all – still, it was interesting to walk around the different rooms.
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ava
August 12, 2009 at 05:56 PM
this website was very helpful with my japanese assignment. it was the only site i needed to complete this section of the assign. because it gave me all the info i needed! cheers :) xx
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Anonymous
May 07, 2009 at 07:39 AM
This was very usefull. :) I just wish there was more info. I had to use this site for a school project :) THANKS!!
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Anonymous
May 02, 2009 at 06:29 PM
Kawagoe is now receiving maintenance and will be closed for the next couple of years. I was dissappointed to find this out when I got there, but there are lots of other things to see there.
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Paige
November 03, 2008 at 09:13 PM
Thankyou for this usefull website, this website was usefull to me for a school project, we had 2 find intersesting places to visit in Japan! ONCE AGAIN THANKYOU!!!!!!
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MM
March 17, 2008 at 03:22 AM
If you're a Shiro-lover like me, this is a good castle to go to because of its Honmaru palace. the only thing that exists besides this is a mound on which a Yagura stood.
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Kawagoe, Saitama Pref
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