Top balcony
All the way round.
Hyppolyte de Saint-Rambert — CC BY 4.0 · Hyppolyte de Saint-Rambert — CC BY 4.0 · Hyppolyte de Saint-Rambert — CC BY 4.0 · Hyppolyte de Saint-Rambert — CC BY 4.0
Inuyama Castle is a hilltop Japanese castle in the city of Inuyama in Aichi Prefecture, overlooking the Kiso River, which forms the border between Aichi and Gifu prefectures, about 25 km north of Nagoya in a straight line. Its keep is one of only twelve pre-modern keeps left in Japan and among the oldest; official cultural records date it to 1601, while the castle itself goes back to 1537. It is one of five keeps designated National Treasures, with Matsumoto, Hikone, Matsue and Himeji, and the only one of them where visitors can walk all the way around the top balcony. The castle became a National Historic Site in 2018. The small keep rises in white walls and tiered, curving roofs above a stone base, and its silhouette changes with the angle. Green trees surround it and turn colour in autumn. Visitors climb the narrow wooden stairs to the top floor and circle the balcony for views over the Kiso River and the plain around it. The castle makes a half-day trip from Nagoya, together with a walk along the old street below.
All the way round.
Wide views.
Narrow and steep.
Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture, Japan
Yes, half a day.
Yes.