Minakuchi Castle

History

Minakuchi Castle was built in 1634 as a fortified way station for when Tokugawa Iemitsu went from Tokyo to Kyoto. Kato Akitomo entered Minakuchi Castle in 1682 and formally established the state of Minakuchi. With one exception, the Kato family ruled over the castle until the coming of the Meiji Restoration when it was dismantled and parts were sold off. Since the castle was originally meant as a place for the shogun to rest on his way to Kyoto, it is said that the Kato rulers never used the palace in the honmaru that was built for the shogun. They built a separate residence in the Ninomaru.

Visit Notes

Most people will probably visit this castle for the reconstructed yagura, gate and bridge, but the large Edo Period stone walls are really the highlight of this castle. It is not huge, so I highly recommend walking the full circumference of the Honmaru to admire these walls. The museum inside the yagura has some nice displays including information about nearby Koka Castles. The first castle in Minakuchi, Minakuchi Okayama Castle, was actually built to the east of present day Minakuchi Castle by the order of Hideyoshi to help pacify the Koka region. The museum also had some information about two extant gates from samurai homes in the town so it was a good opportunity to find those as well (despite being the middle of a typhoon!).

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Gallery

Original gate from a samurai home
Original gate from a samurai home
Original gate from a samurai home
Ichirizuka, distance marker along the Tokaido Road

Castle Profile
English Name	Minakuchi Castle
Japanese Name	水口城
Alternate Names	Okayama-jo, Hekisui-jo
Founder	Tokugawa Iemitsu
Year Founded	1634
Castle Type	Flatland
Castle Condition	No main keep but other buildings
Designations	Prefectural Historic Site
Historical Period	Edo Period
Year Reconstructed	1991
Features	gates, turrets, water moats, stone walls, walls
Visitor Information
Access	Minakuchijonan Sta. (Omi Tetsudo Line); 10 min walk
Visitor Information	open 10am-5pm, close Thursday, Friday, and year end holidays; 100 yen
Time Required	45 mins
Website	https://www.biwako-visitors.jp/spot/detail/882/
Location	Koka, Shiga Prefecture
Coordinates	34° 58' 12.83" N, 136° 9' 55.69" E
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	2006
Contributor	Eric
Admin Year Visited	2022
Admin Visits	September 18, 2022
Friends of JCastle
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2.22

(9 votes)

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RaymondWDaimyo

3 months ago

Score 0

Good work on adding many more photos of this castle on JCastle. It’s been years since my previous visits, so perhaps I’m due for another re-visit. There are still a few castle ruins in the area that I haven’t visited yet. As always, there are too many castles and too little free time.

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ARTShogun

4 months ago

Score 1

I was able to re-visit at some point. It's a neat little site. The original castle was much larger, encompassing the adjacent sports field.

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ARTShogun

82 months ago

Score 1

Well that's a first for me: this site is closed on thursdays and fridays. On these days there is no access to the inner compound. It's pretty from outside at least. I'm on my way to the ninja house now.

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A22cricketAshigaru

146 months ago

Score 0

Went here after visiting another castle in the morning. It's reconstructed but the one staff member who was there when I went was incredibly friendly, she gave me tea while I was watching the video presentation.

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A22cricketAshigaru

146 months ago

Score 0

I went there yesterday (May 4th,2011) and had a good time. The lady at the reception desk was extremely helpful and gladly pointed out where Minakuchi Okayama once stood. She even gave me directions on how to get there and where to park. I guess they don't get many visitors because she had to turn on the DVD player for the AV part of the tour, but she did give me a cup of tea while I sat and watched. Admission to the castle is 100 yen but for an extra 100 yen you can get admission to the Matsuri Donjiri museum on the other side of Minakuchijyonan Station. Worth it and even if you don't go to the Donjiri museum an extra 100 yen isn't that much for a small museum that likely faces the chopping block occasionally. I went here from Otsu but there's a connection at Omi Hachiman Station. I included the visit on a trip to another castle that finished up by 10 and I was in Minakuchi by noon. A little effort to get to but worth it for a great reproduction in a small town far from the crowds.

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RaymondWDaimyo

149 months ago

Score 0

I went to this castle ruin in late February and was pleasantly surprised. I know they have reconstructed the demaru (出丸) of the castle ruin with a two-storey yagura (which was not there in the original castle) and two gates. However, once inside the yagura, I found it was a wooden reconstruction using Hinoki Cypress. The lady at the reception was very helpful. She even managed to find a simple explanation of the castle history in English which she gave me along with other pamphlets in Japanese. She also told me that they don’t get many visitors as most people go to the more famous and accessible castle sites like Azuchi, Hikone, and Nagahama. Inside the yagura is a nice little museum on the ground floor which includes a model of what the original castle looked like. Entry is a measly 100yen. Apart from the demaru, the honmaru is still around, but all the buildings and other yaguras are long gone. Instead, you will find a couple of baseball fields in the honmaru. There is still a water moat running around the honmaru. It is certainly worth walking around the outside of this castle ruin. It doesn’t take long to visit this castle site. I think if you spend around an hour here, it will be enough. If you have time, it may be worth your while to visit its older brother, Minakuchi-Okayama Castle Ruin located on hill nearby. There isn’t much up at the older castle site up on the hill, but the baileys are clearly marked, and there are some earthen embankments, dry moats, and some ishigaki remains (not much) to see.

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