Wakayama Castle (Wakayamajo)

The origins of Wakayama Castle (和歌山城, Wakayamajō) go back to Japan's era of warring states, when the region was invaded first by Oda Nobunaga, and soon after with greater success by a Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Hideyoshi later gave control of what was then Kii Province to his nephew, Hidenaga, who constructed an early version of the castle in its present location.

In the lead up to the Edo Period (1603-1868), the province was turned over to Asano Yoshinaga, an ally of Tokugawa Ieyasu, who greatly expanded the castle and added a three-story main tower. Later, when the Asano Clan was relocated to Hiroshima, the province changed hands again, this time to one of the three main branches of the Tokugawa family, and greatly prospered under their rule.

Following the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the castle was abandoned and many of its buildings demolished. The grounds were opened to the public in 1901 and later designated as national treasures, but eleven of its most important buildings, including the main keep, were destroyed in a large-scale bombing raid during the Second World War. The existing main tower is a ferroconcrete replica built in 1957.

Today, the interior of the main tower is entirely modern, housing some exhibits about the history of the castle and its former domain, as well as a top-floor observation deck with impressive views of the city and surrounding landscape.

In addition to the main tower, visitors can take a short stroll around the Nishinomaru Teien Garden, a traditional garden that is extremely rare both for its location within castle grounds and for the way it incorporates the water of a defensive moat into a scenic pond. Also unusual is the narrow corridor bridge, reconstructed in 2006, extending between the garden and the former site of the Ninomaru Palace