Wakayama Castle

Wakayama Castle, located on the summit of Mount Torafusu (48.9 m above sea level) in central Wakayama City, is a prominent hirayama-style (hilltop) castle with a terraced layout. The Kinokawa River flows to its north, serving as a natural moat. The castle was originally founded during the time of Toyotomi Hidenaga, and later became the seat of the Kishu Domain, one of the Tokugawa clan’s three prestigious branch families (Gosanke). Today, the castle ruins are designated as a National Historic Site of Japan.

In 1621, Tokugawa Yorinobu, the tenth son of Tokugawa Ieyasu and the first lord of the Kishu Domain, carried out large-scale renovations of the castle and expansions of the castle town. The scale of the project was so immense that it aroused suspicion from the shogunate, fearing possible rebellion. It was only thanks to the defense by his senior retainer, Andō Naotsugu, that the misunderstanding was cleared. Nevertheless, the grand outer moat construction was forcibly halted, leaving behind the place name “Horidome” (“end of the moat”) as a trace of history. Despite repeated fires, the castle was rebuilt multiple times, though only about one-fourth of its peak size remains today.

One of the castle’s most distinctive features is its stone walls, which display construction techniques from different periods. Over 2,100 carved masons’ marks representing about 170 types can still be found on stones from the Toyotomi and Asano eras, most of them made from Izumi sandstone, making the site highly valuable for historical study.

After the Meiji Restoration, the castle’s keep and turrets were still preserved intact, but they were destroyed during the devastating Wakayama air raid at the end of World War II. Today, the Honmaru and Ninomaru areas form Wakayama Castle Park, which features reconstructed large and small keeps, the Otemon gate, and Ichinohashi bridge, along with Wakayama Gokoku Shrine and Wakayama Castle Zoo. In the Sannomaru area stand public institutions and cultural facilities such as the prefectural office, city hall, courthouse, art museum, and history museum.

Among the surviving remains are stone walls, moats, Okaguchi Gate, and Tōmawari Gate. The Okaguchi Gate and its earthen walls are designated Important Cultural Properties of Japan, while the giant camphor tree in Ninomaru is a Natural Monument of Wakayama Prefecture. Since detailed blueprints and records of the castle have been preserved, there are future plans to reconstruct the large and small keeps, Ninomaru Palace, Nishinomaru Palace, and several turrets and gates in wood, aiming to gradually restore Wakayama Castle to its former grandeur.