Echizen Ohno Castle

History

Ohno Castle was built in 1576 by Kanamori Nagachika who was stationed there by Oda Nobunaga. In 1586 Kanamori moved to Hida Takayama and from then on the lord of the castle changed frequently. The castle burned down in 1775 but was rebuilt in 1795 without the main keep. All but the stone walls were dismantled during the Meiji Period by command of the government.

Visit Notes

Not personally visited. All photos contributed by RaymondW. I've heard that the castle town is well preserved with samurai homes, old temples, and a historic Edo Period atmosphere. I would like to visit someday.

Gallery

Ninomaru Moat
Path to the top
Uchiyama Residence

Castle Profile
English Name	Echizen Ohno Castle
Japanese Name	越前大野城
Alternate Names	Ohno-jo, Kameyama-jo
Founder	Kanamori Nagachika
Year Founded	1576
Castle Type	Mountaintop
Castle Condition	Reconstructed main keep
Designations	Next 100 Castles, Prefectural Historic Site
Historical Period	Edo Period
Main Keep Structure	2 levels, 3 stories
Year Reconstructed	1968 (concrete)
Features	main keep, gates, turrets, bridges, samurai homes, trenches, stone walls, castle town
Visitor Information
Access	Echizen Ohno Sta. (Etsumi Hokusen Line), 25 min walk
Visitor Information	200 yen. Open April-Sept: 9am-5pm; Oct-Nov: 9am-4pm. Closed Dec-March.
Time Required
Website	http://www.onocastle.net
Location	Ohno, Fukui Prefecture
Coordinates	35° 59' 11.80" N, 136° 28' 59.16" E
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	2007
Contributor	RaymondW
Admin Year Visited	Viewer Contributed

Nearby Samurai Homes

Tamura Residence

Uchiyama Residence

3.18

(11 votes)

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ARTShogun

49 months ago

Score 2

Add two bukeyashiki profiles.

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ARTShogun

90 months ago

Score 1

Echizen-Ōno Castle was first built in 1576 when Kanamori Nagachika, loyal retainer of Oda Nobunaga and tea master, was appointed Daimyou. The castle burnt down in 1775 and the keep thereafter was not rebuilt, though other buildings were. The castle structures were tore down by the Meiji government after the restoration. At that time, Lord Doi was lord of the castle. He was the last chihanji (a latter day governor in the Han System). The current structure dates from 1968. The two-storey donjon is a concrete reconstruction. The surrounding town has many old buildings and retains its Edo-jidai (era) atmosphere. Though the keep is concrete, they went to a little effort to give it a wooden feel from the inside out, which I appreciate. This mountain-top castle is most popular in the Japanese consciousness as surrounded by clouds, though when I visited it was mostly a clear day.

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SuupaahiirooAshigaru

91 months ago

Score 0

I liked the castle grounds and walls, but because I was there very early we didn't enter the castle keep. Views are good. I really recommend the Uchiyama samurai house, the highlight for me being the three storehouses we could enter. To promote travel by train, people at the station gave us a \passport"with which we could visit most sites for free. It even included some vouchers for free stuff like postcards local rice and tea. (Echizen Ōno and Ichijōdani are on the same train line and I think the combination makes for a good day trip"

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RaymondWDaimyo

98 months ago

Score 0

I visited this castle in mid-August. This castle exceeded my expectations. Prior to going, I had just expected a typical reconstructed concrete castle keep with very little to see in Echizen-Ono. While the castle is a concrete construction, the museum within was fairly informative about the castle and the surrounding castle town’s history. As mentioned by another J Castle user below, the view from top of the castle is superb with a 360 degree view of all the surrounding mountains including several Top 100 mountains in Japan. The ishigaki (stone wall) foundation on which the castle was built is quite extensive for a medium-sized castle, actually bigger than its more highly rated Fukui cousin, Maruoka Castle. Some of the ishigaki around the main bailey have also been preserved. Unfortunately, there are no other original structures left, but two gates have been reconstructed, one at the bottom of the hill and the other one on the southern side of the Honmaru near a small stone-lined pond. There are a couple of samurai residences at the base of the hill, and this added to the experience of visiting Echizen-Ono Castle. My wife and I only had time to visit one of them, the Uchiyama Residence, located in the Third Bailey, which has been mostly built over. I have only been to a handful of samurai residences, but this is the best one that we have seen so far. Within the walled compound, there are two original houses, a garden, and three storehouses. The original wooden tiles of the “Old House” have been replaced by glazed tiles, but apart from that, it pretty much feels like it was from the late Edo Period / early Meiji Period. It was definitely the property of a rich and high ranking samurai. Entry to the Uchiyama Residence is only 200yen. There is also a “temple quarter” in this castle town for those interesting in sussing out temples. My wife and I went to Echizen-Ono by train. There are only a few trains a day from JR Fukui Station, so plan accordingly if you are going to go there using public transport. Buses are also another possibility to get to Echizen-Ono, but I never considered them because we used JR Seishun-18 tickets for this trip.

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Anonymous user #1

167 months ago

Score 0

what the oda clan's daimyo oda nobunaga ruled echizen ohno castle NICE

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FurinkazanDaimyo

170 months ago

Score 0

Yesterday i went to this castle. It's lookout is very nice. The castle(=certainly concrete(lol)) has some artifacts on display. The city is commemorating the 430 years of it. There are some artifacts in the exhibition hall, but eveything is in japanese. For that i give the castle only 2 stars.

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