Amagasaki Castle

History

Amagasaki Castle was built in 1617 by Toda Ujikane. It completely enclosed an earlier Sengoku period castle built by the Hosokawa clan under Hideyoshi. Amagasaki Castle was located at a strategic point where 2 rivers flow into the ocean. with boat landings in the castle grounds so boats could enter the moats directly. The castle had three baileys and three water moats that spiraled around the honmaru bailey which housed a four level main keep and large 3 level yagura. The castle was dismantled in 1873 under the Castle Abolishment act. Much of the stone in the stone walls was repurposed to make an ocean break wall.

Visit Notes

The castle was reconstucted between 2018 and 2019.

Gallery

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Amagasaki Castle Pre-reconstruction

(6 photos)

Castle Profile
English Name	Amagasaki Castle
Japanese Name	尼崎城
Founder	Toda Ujikane
Year Founded	1617
Castle Type	Flatland
Castle Condition	Reconstructed main keep
Historical Period	Edo Period
Main Keep Structure	4 tiers, 5 storeys with attached turrets; concrete
Year Reconstructed	2019
Features	main keep, turrets, water moats, stone walls, walls
Visitor Information
Access	Amagasaki Sta (Hanshin Main Line), 5 min walk
Visitor Information	Open 9am-5pm, closed Mondays (Tuesday if Monday is a National Holiday) and Dec. 29 - Jan. 2; 500 yen admission
Time Required	45 mins
Website	http://amagasaki-castle.jp
Location	Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture
Coordinates	34° 43' 1.60" N, 135° 25' 6.67" E
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	2013
Admin Year Visited	2013
Admin Visits	March 9, 2013

1.60

(5 votes)

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RaymondWDaimyo

13 months ago

Score 1

Matthew, thanks for sharing your impression of the rebuilt Amagasaki Castle based on your recent visit. From your comment, it looks like it has decent museum. I visited a decade ago when there was no rebuilt castle keep and very little to see at this castle site. Amagasaki Castle is low on my list of castles to revisit, but I should go and check out the reconstructed castle keep / museum.

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Matthew WardGunshi

13 months ago

Score 0

I went to Amagasaki Castle today. I had low expectations that were pretty much met. It's a worthwhile site if you don't expect much authenticity. It's more of a museum about Amagasaki Castle than it is the actual Amagasaki Castle. It IS built in one of the former baileys of Amagasaki Castle, and the main keep does appear to be a fairly accurate reconstruction of the original, in terms of outward appearance. And the museum inside isn't bad, though it kind of reinforces my feeling that this was a magnificent castle that was completely, utterly destroyed due to redevelopment and can never really be put back together again. It's an attractive enough site, but doesn't feel like a real historical castle to me. In places like Kishiwada Castle, at least you have real historical ishigaki and moats, but Amagasaki doesn't even have that. The various recently constructed ishigaki and plaster walls around the site do help fill it out somewhat, but everything has an odd newness about it.

Anyway, it's worth the 2 for the museum and the fairly accurate outwards appearance of the main keep, though technically it's still a mogi since it isn't in its original position.

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ARTShogun

13 months ago

Score 0

"It's more of a museum about Amagasaki Castle than it is the actual Amagasaki Castle."

That's a great way to put it.

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Matthew WardGunshi

16 months ago

Score 0

Last year, I was teaching some high-school students about how to describe their hometowns, and I was puzzled when students from Amagasaki started mentioning Amagasaki Castle. I didn’t know there was such a thing! But I Googled it, and sure enough, there is now an Amagasaki Castle again. I haven’t visited yet, but I’ve seen in from the train window when going to Hyogo, and it looks reasonably attractive.

It’s a really odd case, because there are apparently no visible remains of the original castle on-site. The Japanese Wiki site says ‘no remains above ground.’ It’s 100% reconstructed. And due to redevelopment in the Honmaru area, now occupied by a public school, they decided to reconstruct the castle buildings in the Nishisannomaru instead.

All of this sounds very mogi, but interestingly, the tenshu was apparently rebuilt using actual historical and archeological materials, and duplicates the size and appearance of the original tenshu, albeit in concrete. So it does have *some* degree of authenticity.

Also, archeological research has discovered various remains of original castle structures underground, and also a number of castle structures were sold off in the Meiji Era... unfortunately, their locations are mostly unknown. The only one that seems to be confirmed is part of the Goten which became part of the Buddhist temple Shinsho-in, but that was unfortunately destroyed in WWII.

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ARTShogun

59 months ago

Score 1

i have generously revised my score to a 2 after revisiting to see the new tower. some of the displays were interesting.

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ARTShogun

104 months ago

Score 1

I've been disappointed by castles before but i've never been depressed. Amagasaki castle is a landfill site. No main keep can save it. If they want to build one it'll be a waste of resources and i'll decry it. Next to the castle site is a genuine red brick warehouse structure. It looked like something from my hometown. This depressed me further. An old lady was holding a cat in a blanket on a bench infront of the reconstructed wall segment. I saw the cat's face and it was gnarly. Zero stars for this castle.

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Jcastle.oldHatamoto

140 months ago

Score 0

oops, not sure how that happened. It's now corrected. Thanks!

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RonSAshigaru

140 months ago

Score 0

Is this really a mountaintop castle??? :-)

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RaymondWDaimyo

140 months ago

Score 0

There are some reconstructed walls at this castle ruin site, but there was no sign explaining the historical significance of the site. Also, too much of the site is fenced off and inaccessible. I would not recommend castle fans to visit this site unless you happen to be in Amagasaki. Zero stars for this site.

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