Ōgaki Castle - Ogaki

Small city around gifu

Not a big castle but a very influential one in the history of Japan since it was involved in setting the stage for the battle at Sekigahara. Located in a small Park area with a shine, it is very pleasant to walk around though watch out for all the mosquitoes. There is even a tiny waterfall beside the castle.

There are a number of castles fairly close to Nagoya and having seen a few of them, I wouldn't say this one is particularly outstanding. Like many castles, it's made of concrete, and like many castles, you'll find a museum inside with weapons and armours. One thing though is that you can sort of try the weapons (carry them to get the feel of it). Good for kids and grown ups. However Ogaki is a nice town where you can float down the river in sort of barrel shaped boats.

A reconstruction but very good. Arrived on the day of local matsuri which added to the day out.

It's a really small place, wouldn't recommend to spend more than 20 minutes there. it's a nice place, but nothing special.

Very nice castle surrounded by a quiet park and with a nice view from top floor. There is a small exhibition of weapons, some of them are available to try, e.g. bow.

It was a nice simple castle in the area. It was near the shopping district and the station. I liked how I could see this castle before returning to Nagoya. The people were all nice and is was a nice time.

Out of all the Castle's I visited in Japan, Ōgaki Castle was my favourite one. In the 16th century, Ogaki Castle (Ogaki-jo) was an already known existing fortress, yet truly became a dominant and strategic castle when it was built more upon in 1585 at the command of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the ruler of Japan at that time. Toyotomi Hideyoshi, recognised the importance of the site and had the donjon built. In 1936, the castle's structure was made of a four-tiered, four-storied donjon with many turrets and castle gates, however the structure was later destroyed by fire in the air raids of 1945 during WWII. The castle was then rebuilt to how it stands today in 1959. Today the castle is just as beautiful with lush garden grounds to walk around and during Cherry Blossom season the trees around the statue dominate the castle providing a truly fascinating view. Inside the castle hosts a museum on the first to third floors, which exhibits the history of the castle and it's people, as well as a the fourth floor being an observation level. A quiet and scenic route around the castle grounds provide plenty of photo opportunities and allows you to take a moment to step back in time and imagine the people who walked before you in this castle. Throughout the grounds there are key landmarks with the history of the battles fought yet they are in Japanese so I would recommend visiting the gift shop as you enter for a leaflet that is available in English. The entry fee is 100 yen and the castle is closed on Tuesdays.