Nagoya Castle, Nagoya

Nagoya-jo or Nagoya Castle was originally built in the 1600's by Tokugawa Ieyasu. The castle that stands now was re-built using concrete in 1959.

The website link below is the official site of Nagoya Castle. Sorry it is only available in Japanese.

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 donjon. 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 donjon and other castle structures.

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Beautiful grounds, especially in Spring. Definitely a must visit whilst in Nagoya.

Open 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Entrance to the donjon until 4:10 p.m
Closed December 29 - January 1

Cost:
Adult: Individual 500yen
Child: Individual 100yen

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Nagoya Castle was built by Ieyasu Tokugawa in 1612 and it symbolises Nagoya's pride and power. In celebration of the 400th anniversary of the castle, special exhibitions of various art works were displayed at the castle.

If you have visited Osaka castle, you'd get the sense of deja vu making your way through the main gate to the castle. Osaka castle shimmers in black and gold, Nagoya castle in blue-green and gold. Both blind you in the sun.

Hideyoshi Toyotomi built and used Osaka castle to attack and defend against Ieyasu Tokugawa's Nagoya castle pre Tokugawa-era. Both were bombed and razed and the current castles are reproductions of the originals. So it was interesting to make a comparison against these 2 rather similar castles and imagine how it would have been during its inital years.

Inside the castle, brief explanations of the castle's history and exhibits of samurai armour, swords and palanquin increase the interest-factor of the castle. You can ascend to the peak of the castle but the view of industrial Nagoya isn't exactly appealing.

An ongoing project to restore the villa in the castle grounds will definitely increase the sights within the castle ground, but not in the short term.

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The original was built in 1612 but destroyed in WW II. What you see now is a faithful reproduction done in concrete. You can take an elevator up to the top and you work your way down while viewing many antique painted screens and sliding doors, which were hidden away before the attacks. There is also a short movie showing the way it looked after the attack and how it was restored.
Admission is 500 Yen.

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I only had a couple of hours in Nagoya on my way to Tokyo, so I got on the subway from Nagoya station and got off at station 'Shiyakusho'.

The castle itself is well worth visiting, it's one of the better castles in Japan, although it doesn't compare with the great Himeji, although what can?

Entry costs 500 yen for adults and 100 yen for children under 15.

It's open from 9am - 4:30pm every day. Closed December 29th to January 1st.

It was built in 1612 by a Shogun named Tokugawa Ieyasu and was largely destroyed by bombing in World War II. The restored exterior is a replica of the original but inside it's very different - they have elevators and closed circuit TV! There is plenty of information in English there and it's worth checking out.