18 Castles in Gifu worth your time

Gifu Castle is a historic mountain castle, once Oda Nobunaga's base, offering a glimpse into Japan's past.

What it is

• A Japanese mountain castle, originally Inabayama Castle.
• Renamed Gifu Castle in 1567 by Oda Nobunaga.
• Served as Oda Nobunaga's base of operations.
• Designated a national historic site in 2011.

What to see

• A 1956 replica castle tower on the mountaintop.
• Castle ruins, abandoned in 1601.
• Excavation surveys have been ongoing since 1984.

When to go

• Castle tower closed for seismic retrofitting from 2026 to 2027.

Official site

www.city.gifu.lg.jp

Read more about Gifu Castle

Naegi Castle is worth visiting for its unique integration of natural granite boulders with diverse stone wall techniques.

What it is

• Castle complex built on a mountain.
• Uses natural granite boulders with stone walls.

What to see

• Oyagura Tower with stone walls hugging natural rock.
• Examples of various stone wall techniques.
• Postholes and indentations carved into large rocks.
• Four kinds of stone walls from different periods.
• Nozura-zumi walls at Watagura Gate and Genkanguchimon Gate.
• Uchikomi walls at Kitamon Gate and Oyagura Tower.

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Explore historic castle ruins with impressive stone walls and earthworks in a scenic mountain setting.

What it is

• A Japanese castle from the Sengoku to early Edo periods.
• Built in 1588 by Kanamori Nagachika.
• Designated a historic site of Gifu Prefecture.
• Located on Mount Shiroyama, 686.6 meters above sea level.

What to see

• Remains of kuruwa, moats, and earthworks.
• Impressive stone walls of the former castle.
• Site of the main, second, and third baileys.
• The castle ruins are a natural monument.

Read more about Takayama Castle

Explore the ruins of a medieval fortified manor, the ancestral home of two powerful clans.

What it is

• A Japanese castle, the Asano Fortified Manor House.
• Built by Toki Mitsuyuki and Toki Mitsutoki.
• Became the base of the Toki clan.
• Designated a Toki City Historic Site in 1956.

What to see

• The site is now Kasagami Park.
• Excavated pillar building remains from medieval periods.
• Hida Mikurizuka, the grave of the Asano clan.
• Six gorinto pagodas remain at Hida Mikurizuka.

Read more about Asano Fortified Manor House

Explore Akechi Castle ruins, a historic mountain fortress and ancestral home of the Akechi clan.

What it is

• A Japanese castle in Kani City, Gifu Prefecture.
• Also known as Nagayama Castle or Akechi Nagayama Castle.
• Built in 1342 by Toki Yorikane.
• Residence of the Akechi clan for about 200 years.

What to see

• Remnants of the main keep, kuruwa, and dorui.
• Bronze statue of Mitsuhide, erected in 2020.
• Graves of successive Akechi clan members at Tenryu-ji Temple.

Read more about Akechi Castle

Sunomata Castle is a historical park with a museum and shrine, marking a strategic 16th-century fortress.

What it is

• A Japanese castle in Gifu Prefecture.
• Built by Kinoshita Tokichiro in 1561 or 1566.
• Used as a foothold for Oda Nobunaga's conquest.
• Now a park with a museum and shrine.

What to see

• Sunomata Castle ruins, now a park.
• Ogaki City Sunomata Historical Museum.
• Museum exterior mimics Ogaki Castle keep.
• Toyokuni Shrine, enshrining Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

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Gujō Hachiman Castle offers a reconstructed keep and historic ruins with panoramic views.

What it is

• A castle first built as a fort in 1559.
• Major renovation undertaken in 1588.
• Current keep built in 1933, modeled after Ogaki Castle.
• Selected as one of the Continued Top 100 Japanese Castles.

What to see

• The reconstructed wooden four-story simulated keep.
• Castle ruins, including stone walls.
• Interior of the keep used as a historical museum.

Read more about Gujō Hachiman Castle

Sagiyama Castle, a historic mountaintop fortress, offers a glimpse into Japan's feudal past.

What it is

• A Japanese castle from the late Heian or Kamakura period.
• Built by Satake Hitachi-no-suke Hideyoshi between 1185 and 1190.
• Served as a branch castle after Kawate Castle was built.
• Mino shugosho moved here in 1509.

What to see

• Located on the 68-meter-high peak of Mount Sagiyama.
• Fukumitsu-ogama was built at the foot of the mountain.

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Explore Agi Castle, a mountainside fort ruin with historical significance from the 1500s.

What it is

• A Japanese fort built by the Iwamura Toyama clan.
• Residence of the Agi Toyama clan.
• Fell during the Tono invasion in 1574.
• Never restored after its fall.

What to see

• Castle ruins on Jogamine mountain.
• Site measures 180m east-west and 150m north-south.
• Multiple out-kuruwa (outer baileys).
• Hachiman Shrine on the mountainside.

Read more about Agi Castle

Explore Unuma Castle ruins, a historic mountaintop fortress with strategic views over the Kiso River.

What it is

• A Japanese castle built between 1429 and 1440.
• Constructed by Osawa Toshiharu.
• Used as a military foothold by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1584.
• Abandoned after 1584.

What to see

• Castle ruins on Mt. Shiroyama.
• Natural rocky mountain on the Kiso River's north bank.

Getting there

• Near Meitetsu Inuyama Bridge.

Read more about Unuma Castle

Kamioka Castle offers a glimpse into a 16th-century flatland castle's history and reconstruction.

What it is

• A Japanese flatland castle, originally Higashimachi Castle.
• Built in 1564 by Ema Tokimori.
• Designated a Hida City historic site in 1958.
• Destroyed in 1615, rebuilt in 1970.

What to see

• Original earthworks, stone walls, and moats.
• A mock keep and gate, reconstructed in 1970.
• Pillar holes and moats from 2018 excavations.

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Explore Kaneyama Castle ruins, a mountaintop fortress with historical significance and impressive earthworks.

What it is

• A Japanese castle (yamashiro) in Kani City, Gifu Prefecture.
• Built in 1537 by Saitō Masayoshi.
• Demolished around 1601.
• Designated a National Historic Site in 2013.

What to see

• Castle ruins on Mount Kojō, 277 meters high.
• Remains of enclosures and earthworks.
• Ancient wells and moats.
• Original stone walls.

Read more about Kaneyama Castle

Explore Matsukura Castle's historic ruins, a mountain castle built in 1579 near Takayama.

What it is

• A Japanese mountain castle.
• Built in 1579 by Anekōji Yoritsuna.
• Designated a national historic site.
• Abandoned in 1588.

What to see

• Stone wall remains of the baileys.
• Main, second, third, and projecting baileys.

Getting there

• Accessible from Takayama Station.
• Reach by bus and walk.

Read more about Matsukura Castle

Explore Tsumaki Castle, a mountain castle ruin with historical ties to samurai clans and pottery.

What it is

• A Japanese mountain castle ruin.
• Designated a Gifu Prefecture historic site.
• Originally a territory of the Akechi clan.
• Later the residence of the Tsumaki clan.

What to see

• Stone walls, baileys, and earthworks.
• A small shrine on the main and second bailey sites.
• The Tsumaki clan residence, a historic site.

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Adera Castle is a short-lived 16th-century fort with visible remains and a shrine.

What it is

• A Japanese castle or fort, also called Meisho Castle.
• Built by Tōyama Naokado in 1557.
• Abandoned after less than 30 years of use.

What to see

• The main enclosure has Ontake Shrine.
• The second and third enclosures are present.
• Triple moats are visible behind the castle.

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Explore the ruins of Iwamura Castle, a medieval mountain fortress and one of Japan's Three Great Mountain Castles.

What it is

• A medieval Japanese mountain castle.
• Built by the Iwamura Toyama clan in the early Kamakura period.
• Also known as Kirigajo.
• One of Japan's Three Great Mountain Castles.

What to see

• Castle ruins, dismantled in 1873.
• Site of the main keep at 717m elevation.

Read more about Iwamura Castle

Visit the ruins of Kawate Castle, a 14th-century samurai stronghold, to see remnants of its past.

What it is

• A castle built in 1353 by Toki Yoriyasu.
• It was the base for the Toki clan.
• The castle was burned down in 1494.

What to see

• A stone monument and explanatory sign.
• Parts of the original earthworks remain.
• Shinto shrines were located nearby.

Read more about Kawate Castle

This monument marks a castle and town buried by an earthquake and landslide in 1585.

What it is

• A Japanese castle built around 1462.
• Residence of the Uchigashima clan.
• Buried by a landslide in 1585.
• A monument stands in Hokiwa.

What to see

• A monument dedicated to the lost castle and town.

Read more about Kaerikumo Castle