Azuchi Castle

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Azuchi10.jpg

History

By 1575 Nobunaga had become the most powerful samurai in the country. He turned over control of the Owari & Mino provinces to his eldest son Nobutada and set his own eyes on the unification of all Japan. In 1576, Nobunaga established his new castle and power base at Azuchi on Lake Biwa. This was a very strategic location in that it gave him significant control over the nearby Tokaida and Nakasendo roads to Kyoto and any traffic on Lake Biwa.

It took 3.5 years to complete the main keep and entire castle. Unfortunately, the castle was short lived. After Nobunaga was killed by Akechi Mitsuhide in 1582 at Honnoji Temple, Azuchi Castle was burned to the ground in a battle between Nobunaga's second son Nobukatsu and Akechi's men who had taken over the castle.

The construction of Azuchi Castle was a revolution in castle design and marked the turning point in a new type of castle. Until this time, most were smaller mountaintop structures that were only used as a lookout or as needed. Nobunaga's Azuchi castle led the way for the larger and more grand structures of the late Sengoku Period and Early Edo Period turning castles in to quarters for the daimyo and some retainers.

The main keep itself was 7 stories high and thought to have been the largest multi-storied wooden building in the world at that time. The fifth floor of the main keep was an octagon representing heaven and the quadrangular sixth floor represented the thoughts of Taoism and Confucianism.

The picture above is of the Ote-michi entrance through to the castle. Along either side were houses of loyal retainers.


Visit Notes

Azuchi Castle is a fantastic site to visit. They've done an amazing job excavating the ruins and rebuilding the stone walls throughout the site. Since I was last there in 2004 they rebuilt all the stonework foundations around the base of the mountain. There are still many inaccessible ruins around the mountain so I hope they continue these efforts and open up more of the castle soon. Even though there are only ruins I have to give 4 stars due to the extent of ruins, signage, and the maintenance and ongoing excavations. This site is really a must see for any castle fans.


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Gallery
  • Ote entrance
  • Entrance at the foot of the mountain
  • entrance at the base of the mounatin
  • stone walls around the mountain
  • masugata entrance
  • Stone walls near the Otemon Entrance
  • Stone walls near the Otemon Entrance
  • Stone walls near the Otemon entrance
  • Stone walls of Maeda Toshiie's palace
  • Stone walls of Ieyasu's palace
  • Remains of Hashiba Hideyoshi's palace
  • Hideyoshi's palace drawing
  • stone walls of Hideyoshi and Tokugawa's palaces.
  • Remains of Hideyoshi's palace
  • Otemichi Road
  • Path to the Kuroganemon Gate
  • Kuroganemon gate
  • Stone walls of the Ninomaru
  • Stone walls of the Ninomaru
  • Stone walls near the Ninomaru
  • Kuroganemon Gate stone walls
  • Ninomaru stone walls
  • Honmaru (?) stone walls
  • Main keep entrance
  • Stone walls near the Sannomaru
  • Sannomaru stone walls
  • Sannomaru stone walls
  • Honmaru entrance stone walls
  • Honmaru stone walls
  • Entrance to the main keep
  • Entrance to the main keep
  • main keep foundation
  • View from the main keep foundation
  • Honmaru stone walls
  • Route to the Sokenji Temple
  • Route to the Sokenji Temple
  • Three story pagoda
  • Route to the Sokenji Temple
  • Map


Castle Profile
English Name Azuchi Castle
Japanese Name 安土城
Founder Oda Nobunaga
Year Founded 1576
Castle Type Hilltop
Castle Condition Ruins only
Designations Top 100 Castles, Top 100 Mountaintop Castles, Special Historic Site
Historical Period Pre Edo Period
Features trenches, stone walls
Visitor Information
Access Azuchi Station (JR Tokaido Line)
Visitor Information 700 yen
Time Required 120 mins
Website http://en.biwako-visitors.jp/spot/detail/157
Location Azuchi, Shiga Prefecture
Coordinates 35° 9' 21.35" N, 136° 8' 21.41" E
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Admin
Added to Jcastle 2004
Admin Year Visited 2004, 2011, 2021
Admin Visits February 21, 2004; November 26, 2011; December 12, 2021
Friends of JCastle
Malcolm Fairman Photography - Azuchi Castle


3.84
(19 votes)
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DiegoDeManilaAshigaru

64 months ago
Score 2++

Visited 03 May 2017, day trip from Ōsaka. Took a cab from Azuchi Station (was conserving my energy for the site itself), hoofed it on the way back so that I could hit the museums in the area. Long walk from point to point but doable. It was Golden Week (and the intercity trains were predictably crowded), but the castle was surprisingly deserted. Not empty, far from it, but I'd have expected to see more people given the long holidays and the fantastic ruins (along with the rich history of the place). The list of Oda retainers who once lived on either side of the Ōte-michi - the long, wide stairway that cuts through the Azuchi compound like a town's high street - was a veritable who's who of Sengoku-era Japan; hunting down names (Hideyoshi, Ieyasu, Toshiie, etc.) almost felt like strolling through a feudal-era Beverly Hills with star map in hand. Also visited three museums in the area. The 滋賀県立安土城考古博物館 (a large prefectural facility) was interesting and worth a stop, but had less to do with the castle and more to do with other archaeological finds from the region. Not far from that was the 安土城天主信長の館, a tiny gem of a hall with the famous full-sized replica of Azuchi's uppermost floors. Don't miss the CGI-heavy film shown there - the reconstructed imagery of the castle and its town are absolutely awesome (I regret not purchasing the video, will almost certainly do so the next time I visit). Stopped by the 安土城郭資料館 near the station as I prepared to leave town: small but inexpensive, and I'd have paid the price of admission twice over just to see the detailed cutaway model of the tenshu. (Friendly and eager staff, too; felt more like a community-run place than the larger facilities I visited earlier.) The link below is a report I've written about the castle site itself; I'll write a separate one about the museums in due course.

https://with...03-may-2017/

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SuupaahiirooAshigaru

67 months ago
Score 1++

This is a very nice castle site to visit, although I think 700 yen is very expensive for a site without any (reconstructed) buildings. The most impressive part for me was the place where the main keep once stood, where the grid pattern of the foundation stones is pretty much intact. Don't forget to visit the area with Sōken-ji Temple (摠見寺): the three-storied pagoda is beautiful and there are great views over Lake Sainoko (西ノ湖).

There seem to be four different museums/facilities in the area. Because my time was limited, I only visited Nobunaga no Yakata. Like others have mentioned here, the rebuilt top stories of the main keep and the virtual reality video are well worth it.

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FurinkazanHatamoto

71 months ago
Score 0++

This morning the rain dripped a little bit, but stopped when i arrived at Azuchi station. There is still only one exit at this station but they're doing a complete overhaul of it. Of what i could see, there will be 2 exits in the near future. Exiting the station, i went left to go under the railtracks and go to the Azuchi castle museum. They have a very impressive model(scale 1/20) of the keep of the castle. This model can be opened to show the interior. Not to miss. I went back in front of the station to rent a bicycle. In the first shop there was nobody, so i went to the one right from the station. The fee to rent a bicycle depends on the time you'll use it. When i told the old man where i was going, he guessed i needed 5 hours, so the prize was set at 1000¥. Actually i used it a bit longer than that and i had to pay 300¥ more. Ok, it's a little bit at the high end, but the old man gave me 3 maps. On the first one he told me the complete route for the sites i wanted to go. The second one was that of Azuchijô. Here again he showed me the route. The last one was for Kannonjijô. He was very helpful. The ruins of Azuchijô are impressive, but the access beyond the honmaru is still fenced off.(sorry RaymondW).

After the castle i went to the Saga Prefectural Archeological museum. There are very nice artifacts, but especially several models of different castles.The fee is 1180¥, but then you have access to the museum of 'The house of Nobunaga'. I highly recommend to visit this facility. Inside is the reconstruction of the last 2 levels of the tenshukaku of Azuchijô. It was made using the old techniques. There is also a VR video of about 15min. This was amazing. You make the visit of the castle in presence of Luis Frois. I was stunned by the beauty of this video. You see that the hill of Azuchijô was almost completely surrounded by water, in those days. From there i went on to Kannonjijô.

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ARTShogun

76 months ago
Score 0++
There are like 3 Azuchi Castle museums. I ignored the 安土城資料館 (Azuchi castle information center, 200 yen) next to the station, looked sparse although the building is nice. I went to the 安土城考古博物館 (Azuchi castle archeological museum). It was good with interesting models but no photography is permitted plus many of the exhibits focus on the kofun period (there is a kofun nearby, i went, just a hill with a path). The last place i went was the 安土城天主信長の館　(Azuchi castle heavenly lord Nobunaga hall) where they have a full scale replica of the top two floors of the castle tower and virtual reality screenings of how the castle used to look. I was well impressed.

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RaymondWDaimyo

127 months ago
Score 0++
Made it to Azuchi Castle for another re-visit today. They have been busy since my last visit almost a year ago. More undergrowth have been cleared from some of the lower ishigaki to the right on the Otemichi (main road) up the castle. Some undergrowth have also been cleared from some of the Ninomaru ishigaki. Now, only if they would open up the Sannomaru and other sections of the castle ruin to the public.

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A22cricketAshigaru

143 months ago
Score 0++
RaymondW, went to the museums nearby. They were great. I'm surprised this area doesn't get more attention from tourists.

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RaymondWDaimyo

143 months ago
Score 0++
a22cricket, did you go to the Azuchi Castle Museum just across from JR Azuchi Station? The staff is pretty helpful there, and you can pick up an info pack about Azuchi Castle (in Japanese only) for 200 yen. Within the pack is a small map of Kannonji Castle, too.

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A22cricketAshigaru

143 months ago
Score 0++
Spent June 5th, 2011 here for the Oda Nobunaga festival. It's held on the first Sunday every June and the town puts on a parade, arquebus demonstrations, feasts, tea ceremony, etc., etc. Fun weekend and still a great trip. One of the best sites on Lake Biwa.

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A22cricketAshigaru

144 months ago
Score 0++
Read \Taiko"by Eiji Yoshikawa which is about castle warfare and Hideyoshi Toyotomi and saw a lot of references to Azuchi. Great ruins and museums. The book is great as well although not as good as Yoshikawa's \""Musashi\""."""

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Anonymous user #1

146 months ago
Score 0++
Currently writing my master's dissertation about Azuchi Castle. It's fascinating to trace down it's history and the people who helped with the construction. Top class castle!

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RaymondWDaimyo

146 months ago
Score 0++
I went to Azuchi Castle Ruin first before making it over to Kannonji Castle Ruin on the last weekend of February. This is my fourth visit to this castle ruin, so I decided just to ride around the base of the hill and suss out the parts that I have not seen nor are regularly visited. If you are going to rent a bicycle, ride around the area a little, and you will see some of the canals lined with ishigaki created in the days of Oda Nobunaga. Also, go past the big Azuchi Castle sign on the main road heading towards Hikone. First, you will see the remnants of some kind of water moat (more like a pond now) and a bit of ishigaki. Go a bit further, and you will see an open space and a set of steps leading into the bush. Go up the steps, and you will find some ishigaki of some of the lower eastern baileys. They are heavily overgrown with bamboo and other trees.

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Anonymous user #1

148 months ago
Score 0++
I love azuchi castle because it is ruled by one of my favorite daimyo oda nobunaga it is rated 1 on my account because azuchi castle shows the power of the oda clan and oda nobunaga azuchi castle is built on omi province shiga prefecture there is another castle in omi province odani castle .odani castle was ruled by old and dead by that time azai nagamasa died at the battle of anegawa

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FurinkazanHatamoto

151 months ago
Score 0++

Actually i didn't went to this castleruins, but several days earlier i was at the Ise Azuchi-Momoyama Bunka mura, aka. Ise Wonderland. This is a recreational parc and it has a reconstruction in concrete of the Azuchicastle. The entrance to the parc is 2500yen and 500yen more to enter the castle. In the castle are some puppets recreating some of the important stages of Oda Nobunaga's life. You may pay also 3900yen to access

everything, as well as the theaters. I assisted to one of them, but everything is in japanese.

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Jcastle.oldHatamoto

174 months ago
Score 0++
Agreed. Look for hotels in Hikone. There should be several hotels with English websites and it's just a couple stops away by train. You can visit Hikone Castle too and there is a variety of things to do in Hikone too.

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RaymondWDaimyo

174 months ago
Score 0++

Lisa,

I am not the guy who runs this wonderful website, but I live in Shiga and have been to Azuchi Castle Ruins a couple of times.

There isn't much around JR Azuchi Station. Your best bet for finding a hotel would be in Kusatsu, Hikone, or perhaps Omi-hachiman, one station from Azuchi. The first two places, which are also on the same JR line, are around 15 to 20 minutes from Azuchi. Why not stay in Hikone City and visit both Hikone Castle (an original castle) and Azuchi Castle Ruins?

My two yens' worth.

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