Tenbin turret
A gate with matching wings.
Hyppolyte de Saint-Rambert — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Suicasmo — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Fumihiko Ueno — CC BY 3.0 · Hyppolyte de Saint-Rambert — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Raita Futo from Tokyo, Japan — CC BY 2.0
Hikone Castle stands on a hill above the city of Hikone in Shiga Prefecture, near the eastern shore of Lake Biwa, about 55 km east of Kyoto and 58 km west of Nagoya in a straight line. It is one of twelve castles in Japan with its original keep, and one of five whose buildings are listed as National Treasures. Ii Naomasa, one of Tokugawa Ieyasu's most trusted generals, chose the site, but he died in 1602 as building began; his son Ii Naokatsu completed the castle in 1622 after twenty years of work. To save time and money, stones and buildings were brought from older castles in the area, and the three-storey keep itself came from Otsu Castle. The castle once stood right on the lakeshore, but land reclamation has since left it about a kilometre inland. The compact white keep has an unusual mix of curved and triangular gables and gilded details, set on a 100 metre hill inside two rings of moats. From the top floor the view stretches over the town to Lake Biwa. Below the hill lies Genkyu-en, the lords' garden with a large pond and islands. The climb up stone steps passes the Tenbin turret, a gate tower with matching wings on each side. Hikonyan, a white cat in a samurai helmet, is the castle's much-loved mascot and appears in the grounds. Cherry trees line the moats and are at their best in early April.
A gate with matching wings.
Pond and islands.
The castle mascot.
Hikone, Shiga Prefecture, near Lake Biwa, Japan
Two to three hours with the garden.
Yes, by train from Kyoto or Nagoya.