Nagoya Castle

Nagoya, Japan, Japan

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Nagoya Castle in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, is one of Japan’s most prominent and historically important castles, originally completed in 1615 by Tokugawa Ieyasu as a massive military and administrative base for the Owari Tokugawa clan, who ruled the region for the entire 260-year Edo period.

The castle was famous for its huge main tower keep topped with golden shachihoko (tiger-fish) roof ornaments and for its Hommaru Palace, the finest of all castle palaces, which served as the shogun’s official residence and administrative headquarters when he visited the area, and together with the Ni-no-maru gardens these structures demonstrated the power and wealth of the Tokugawa clan.

In 1930 the main keep and Hommaru Palace were designated Japan’s first National Treasures, but in May 1945 both were destroyed in American air raids during World War II, leaving only the palace’s stone walls and some outer structures intact. After the war, the site was preserved as a park, and the main keep was rebuilt in reinforced concrete in 1959, with modern fireproofing and the return of the golden shachihoko.