Fukuyama Castle

What to know

Fukuyama Castle (福山城, Fukuyamajō) sits on a low hill directly across from Fukuyama Station. Originally built in 1622 under the orders of a cousin of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the current main keep is a postwar ferro-concrete reconstruction.

It was one of the last new castles completed in the early Edo Period, serving as a base to protect western Japan. Most buildings were demolished after the feudal era, but the main keep was preserved and designated a National Treasure before being destroyed in WWII air raids. The current keep dates to 1966.

In the early 2020s, the keep underwent renovations that revived its most unique feature: one of its four sides is covered with protective iron plates, leaving three sides white and the northern side black. Inside, a modern museum covers the history of the castle and city. Visitors can try hands-on activities like a horse riding and matchlock shooting simulator at no extra cost. As with many Japanese castles, panoramic views await from the top floor.

The spacious park around the keep becomes a popular cherry blossom spot around early April and also hosts several other attractions:

At the northern base of the keep lies the Fukuju Kaikan, a traditional Japanese-style building and an old-fashioned Western-style building surrounded by an attractive landscape garden. Built in the 1930s by a successful local businessman and later donated to the city, the gardens are free to enter during opening hours and offer lovely views of the castle keep towering above. The buildings can be rented for events and should not be entered without permission.

Also on the outer castle grounds is the Hiroshima Prefectural Museum of History, which focuses on how inhabitants of the Seto Inland Sea region lived through the ages and provides a good overview of Japan's feudal period. Its most unique attraction is a large-scale reconstruction of part of the former port town of Kusado Sengen, which museum visitors can wander through.