Nagoya Castle

History

In 1610 Tokugawa Ieyasu ordered the construction of Nagoya-jo to solidify the Tokugawa authority in Owari (Nagoya and vicinity). The castle was completed in 1612 and Tokugawa's ninth son Yoshinao entered the castle in 1616 from which he governed over Owari. Nagoya-jo is famous for the 2 golden shachihoko that adorn the top of its main keep. That is why it is also known as "Kinshachi-jo." Kin means "gold" and shachi refers to the killer whale type mythical creatures that sit atop the main keep and other castle structures.

Visit Notes

Had it not been destroyed by the bombing of World War 2, Nagoya Castle would likely be the most splendid castle in Japan today with both an original main keep and the honmaru palace. The palace was rebuilt (completed) in 2018 and is truly a modern National Treasure. Everything from the artwork to the woodwork has been faithfully reproduced using original materials and techniques, even the gold foil covering the trimmings. Currently there is debate about rebuilding the main keep and how it should be done. The palace is a must see for any castle fan or fan of traditional architecture, but don't miss out on the original yagura and the amazing stonework that can also be seen here.

Nagoya Castle is even larger than you might think. The ruins around the Sannomaru Bailey area are also worthwhile visiting. There are vast trenches and a lot of stone wall remains. The photos show here are a collection from 3 or 4 distinct trips and I've still missed some areas I'd like to explore further.

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Gallery

Main Keep
Main keep and palace
Honmaru Palace
View from the Southeast Corner Yagura
Main Keep and Palace
outer moat and main keep
Honmaru Palace
Map

More Galleries and Feature Pages

Main Compounds

(27 photos)

Sannomaru Compound

(35 photos)

Honmaru Palace

(73 photos)

Southwest Corner Yagura

(27 photos)

Southeast Corner Yagura

(24 photos)

Northwest Corner Yagura

(17 photos)

Castle Profile
English Name	Nagoya Castle
Japanese Name	名古屋城
Alternate Names	Kinshachi-jo
Founder	Tokugawa Ieyasu
Year Founded	1612
Castle Type	Flatland
Castle Condition	Reconstructed main keep
Designations	Top 100 Castles, has Important Cultural Properties, National Historic Site, Special Historic Site
Historical Period	Edo Period
Main Keep Structure	5 levels, 7 stories
Year Reconstructed	1959 (concrete)
Artifacts	Southeast Corner Yagura, Southwest Corner Yagura, Omote Ninomon Gate, Ninomaru Ote Ninomon Gate, Former Ninomaru East Ninomon Gate, Northwest Corner Yagura
Features	main keep, gates, turrets, palace, water moats, trenches, stone walls, walls
Visitor Information
Access	Shiyakusho Station (subway Meijo Line)
Visitor Information	Open 9am - 5:30pm; Cloed Dec 29-Jan 1; 500 yen
Time Required	at least 3 hours
Website	https://www.nagoyajo.city.nagoya.jp/
Location	Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture
Coordinates	35° 11' 7.98" N, 136° 53' 56.33" E
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	1999
Contributor	Eric
Admin Year Visited	1992, 1996, 2004, 2018, 2019
Admin Visits	July 1992; several times in 1995-1996; February 23, 2004; August 8, 2018; August 3, 2019
Friends of JCastle
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3.90

(58 votes)

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Matthew WardGunshi

3 months ago

Score 0

Slightly sad that this castle is rated so low by visitors to this site. I imagine that it's a similar situation to Osaka Castle: back when the keeps were open, people went inside them, noted the office-like atmosphere, and judged the castle based on that.

Anyway, in my book, Nagoya Castle definitely deserves a 5, for all of the ishigaki and moat remains, the 3 fantastic extant turrets (really like medium-sized keeps!) and the wonderful reconstructed goten complex. The 3 extant gates are also nice, as is the Ninomaru Garden. And the concrete keeps are attractive and visually accurate, if you can avoid the elevator side.

Of course, we all wish for the keeps and perhaps entire Honmaru to be reconstructed in wood, if they can ever manage to get that together. But in the meantime, it's still a great castle.

By the way, one thing I noticed on my visit yesterday (my 3rd visit), was that the closure of the concrete keeps has encouraged the castle management to be more forthright about the different between 'keep' and 'castle.' The literature explains that you can't go in the 'keep tower,' but that you can go in the castle palace.

It would be also great if they would have at least one of the turrets open all the time. Chris Glenn says that they need some work and probably won't be open for years, but seeing how long the keep restoration is likely to take, I hope they can manage to open them before too long.