The 12 Original Castles of Japan

Noah Count · 2026-01-25T14:56:28+1100

So straight of the bat this is not a live TR but over the years I managed to get to them all, I had some time to spare and started pulling this together as I thought as the years go by I would start to forget the information. If on a mission, one could visit all of them in 3-4 weeks but if you are in for the hard slog they could be done quicker depending on willingness to travel and how long you spend in each location. The definition of what classes as one of the 12 can be found on the internet, for the purposes of this post I am using the following which seems to be well accepted.

An “original” castle is one in which the central keep (tenshu,) has in general not been reconstructed. However, in some cases renovations/ reconstructions may have occurred but fundamentally they are still mainly the wood and stone that survived the post 1868 (Meiji restoration) and subsequent years. These are not my words just are an acceptance of the castles that are now considered as the 12 originals.

Some are bigger than others while others have had the original ground turned into parks, others have small museums and other original structures. IMO you just need to imagine how they may have looked in their hay day. I am no expert in Japanese castle history, and the following are just my comments on how I got to all of them and photos. If I have added details about the castle, it may have been borrowed from the web. There will be no details of accommodation or places to eat the posts are just to detail, at a high level, the castles how I got to them and is just mainly photos, everyone’s travels are different. The photos may be out of order as I have used mine taken from the iPhone, iPad, proper camera and some pinched from Mrs&MissN.

If you have no interest in Japanese Castles, there may be no point in looking at the TR as there are a lot of photos and not many words. I have been to a couple more than once. In no order of my visits but starting in the west:

Noah Count · 2026-01-25T14:59:45+1100

Matsue.

Arrived by aircraft and ended up in the wrong town, a train trip in the morning sorted out the location and from the correct train station the castle is not a long walk over what are now canals but once may have been the inner and outer moats.

Noah Count · 2026-01-25T15:00:52+1100

Noah Count · 2026-01-25T15:03:32+1100

The Highest original Matsuyama.

The township is not hard to get to, the Castle is on top of a hill/ mountain, although there are busses, I jumped in a cab (not expensive) at the drop off there is still another 700-900 metre walk to get to the Castle. It is not very big but I was left in wonder as to how and why the stones were pulled from lower grounds to make it look like other Castles. Getting down was much easier as but once back in the car park area it was time to use my limited Japanese skills to call a cab back to the station.

Noah Count · 2026-01-25T15:05:11+1100

Noah Count · 2026-01-25T15:09:19+1100

The 4 on Shikoku - I would allow 4+ days, but it could be done in 2 at a stretch. I most likely did not get to all 4 in the most efficient way, but it worked for my plans. I started at Marugame

Noah Count · 2026-01-25T15:13:29+1100

Catching the train to Kochi (other side of the island) was easy and then you just use the trolly buses to the castle.

Noah Count · 2026-01-25T15:14:50+1100

The Castle

Noah Count · 2026-01-25T15:17:06+1100

Kochi the last few.

Noah Count · 2026-01-25T15:27:39+1100

Getting to Matsuyama one could catch the train (back tracking) however I used the bus service as it was more direct and the timing worked for my trip.

Noah Count · 2026-01-25T15:29:05+1100

Some more.

Noah Count · 2026-01-25T15:32:08+1100

Last few of Matsuyama then onto Uwajima.

Noah Count · 2026-01-25T15:33:16+1100

More

Noah Count · 2026-01-25T15:34:44+1100

Last of Shikoku

Noah Count · 2026-01-25T15:55:51+1100

The 4 which are not hard to get to (IMO) are Himeji, Matsumoto, Inuyama and Hikone. They are all accessible by train that most tourists would use. These 4 are also the most likely the well-known originals in Japan. From what I understand Himeji is also a sister to Adelaide which is where I currently live.

Noah Count · 2026-01-25T15:57:12+1100

Noah Count · 2026-01-25T15:59:23+1100

Matsumoto my personal favourite.

Noah Count · 2026-01-25T16:00:49+1100

A few more.

Noah Count · 2026-01-25T16:05:09+1100

Inuyama and interesting one as I understand it was given back to the original family and remained in private ownership until the the early 2000's but has remained opened to the public for many+ years.