Naegi Castle Ruins

Nakatsugawa, Gifu, Japan, Japan

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Naegi Castle Ruins are the remains of a Sengoku-period mountain castle on Mount Takamori in Nakatsugawa, Gifu, that once served as the administrative center of the small Naegi Domain under the Toyama clan and is sometimes called the “Misty Castle” because of its delicate appearance when viewed through valley mist.

Built in 1532 by Toyama Naokado, the castle was strategically placed on a bluff overlooking the Kiso River and the old Nakasendō highway, controlling important land and river routes between Owari and Mino provinces, and unusually combined manmade stone walls with huge natural boulders as its foundation rather than building entirely on flat ground.

The castle remained in Toyama hands for centuries, was abandoned and dismantled in 1871 after the Meiji Restoration, and its ruins have been protected as a National Historic Site since 1981, with much of the original stone walls and terraces still visible today. Visitors can reach the site by a short drive or a roughly one-hour walk from Nakatsugawa Station, then follow a gently sloping path to the summit, where a wooden, nail-free observation tower built as a replica of the former castle tower offers panoramic views of the Kiso River, the city.