Castles of Japan · Volume 01
Explore 13 selected castles in Hokkaido & Tohoku. Photographs, historical timelines, architecture and official sources help you discover each site.
No. 001 — 013 · 13 castles
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13 castles
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No. 001HokkaidoRuins & historic sites
These coastal sites preserve chashi built by Ainu communities. Their ditches and earthworks offer a different view of fortified places, beyond the familiar Japanese castle keep.
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No. 002HokkaidoRuins & historic sites
Five projecting bastions give this Western-style fort its star-shaped plan. Inside the moat and ramparts, the reconstructed Hakodate Magistrate’s Office recalls the administration of the treaty port.
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No. 003HokkaidoReconstructed buildings
Also called Fukuyama Castle, Matsumae stands near the Tsugaru Strait. Its rebuilt keep and surviving Honmaru Gate tell different chapters of construction and preservation.
Explore this castleNo. 004AomoriOriginal keep
The Tsugaru clan’s castle retains an Edo-period keep, turrets and gates. Beyond its famous spring setting, its moats and enclosures reveal how the compact keep fitted into a much larger castle.
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No. 005AomoriRuins & historic sites
Ne Castle was a medieval base of the Nanbu clan in the Hachinohe area. Reconstructed halls and workshops show how a castle could combine government, daily life and preparation for warfare.
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No. 006IwateRuins & historic sites
Large granite walls rise in terraces in central Morioka. Here the Nanbu castle is best understood through changes in level and masonry, rather than surviving towers.
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No. 007MiyagiRuins & historic sites
Taga was an ancient administrative and military centre for northeastern Japan. Its government compound and reconstructed South Gate reveal a kind of castle that predates samurai strongholds.
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No. 008MiyagiRuins & historic sites
Founded by Date Masamune, Sendai Castle is also known as Aoba Castle. Its high walls and palace remains explain how a hill above the city became the domain’s political stage.
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No. 009AkitaRuins & historic sites
The Satake clan’s castle survives as Senshu Park. Its moats and earthworks reveal a defensive design that relied on neither extensive stone walls nor a keep.
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No. 010YamagataRuins & historic sites
Now known as Kajo Park, this large flatland castle is closely associated with the Mogami clan. Moats, earthworks and reconstructed gates hint at an enclosure once far larger than the present park.
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No. 011FukushimaRuins & historic sites
Also called Kasumigajo, Nihonmatsu combines a mountain stronghold with a later domain centre below. Its summit platform and lower Minowa Gate reveal these different phases.
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No. 012FukushimaReconstructed buildings
Better known as Tsurugajo, this castle tells the story of Aizu. Its rebuilt red-tiled keep is a starting point for exploring stone walls, outer defences and successive alterations.
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No. 013FukushimaRuins & historic sites
Stone walls and a reconstructed wooden three-storey turret rise on a small hill in Shirakawa. The site brings together evidence-based rebuilding and the repair of earthquake-damaged masonry.
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