Hikone Castle Guide: Original Keep, Genkyūen and Japanese to Use

Why Hikone Castle is worth the trip from Kyoto

Most of the castles you see in Japan are modern reconstructions, often concrete inside. Hikone is the real thing. Construction began in 1604, soon after the Battle of Sekigahara, under the Ii clan, and took about twenty years. To save time and money, buildings and stones were brought from older castles in the region; the keep is traditionally said to have come from Ōtsu Castle and the Tenbin-yagura from Nagahama Castle. The keep was designated a National Treasure in 1952, and the whole castle is on Japan's tentative list for World Heritage.

The Ii were the foremost of the Tokugawa shogunate's loyal hereditary lords, and one of them, Ii Naosuke, was the shogunate's chief minister when Japan signed its commercial treaty with the United States in 1858. Their castle survived the Meiji period's wave of demolitions, and today the town below it keeps a relaxed, old-fashioned feel, with Lake Biwa, Japan's largest lake, just beyond the moats.

For a Japanese learner, a castle visit is a compact lesson in historical vocabulary: tenshu, keep, yagura, turret, mon, gate, hori, moat, and ishigaki, stone wall. Once you know these, you can read the signs at any castle in Japan.

Getting there: Hikone Station and the walk to the castle

Hikone Station is on the JR Biwako Line, the name for the Tōkaidō Main Line along Lake Biwa. Special rapid trains from Kyoto take around fifty minutes, and from Osaka around an hour and a half. On the Tōkaidō Shinkansen, get off at Maibara and take a local train one stop south. The Ōmi Railway also stops at Hikone Station.

From the west exit, a straight road leads towards the castle hill, about fifteen minutes on foot. Cross the moat to the Omote-mon, the front gate, where the ticket office is. The castle museum stands just inside, and the path to the keep climbs from here. Genkyūen garden is on the north side of the castle hill, with its own entrance.

Up to the keep, the Tenbin-yagura and Genkyūen

From the front gate, stone steps climb the castle hill; according to the castle, there are about 140 steps and some fifty metres of height between the gates and the inner citadel. The path deliberately twists and narrows, a defensive design you can still feel. Halfway up you cross a wooden bridge into the Tenbin-yagura, a turret gate shaped like a balance scale, tenbin, with two towers joined by a long wall.

At the top is the honmaru, the inner citadel, and the keep. It is small but richly decorated, with a mix of gable styles, curved roofs and bell-shaped windows. Inside, you take your shoes off and climb three floors of dark wooden rooms up stairs as steep as sixty-two degrees, almost ladders, to a view over the town and Lake Biwa. The main keep is about twenty metres tall including its stone base.

Back at the foot of the hill, look for the umaya, the long stable where the lords kept their horses, the only surviving stable of its kind at a Japanese castle. Then walk round to Genkyūen, a daimyō garden built around a large pond with islands and bridges, where the keep appears above the trees. Its tea house serves matcha with a view, and the garden is included in the castle ticket. Near the castle, the Yume Kyōbashi Castle Road is a shopping street rebuilt in Edo style, good for lunch and souvenirs.

• Omote-mon: the front gate and ticket office.
• Hikone Castle Museum: armour, art and a reconstruction of the lord's residence.
• Tenbin-yagura: the balance-scale turret gate halfway up.
• Tenshu: the original three-tier keep, a National Treasure.
• Umaya: the long castle stable at the foot of the hill.
• Genkyūen: the pond garden with the keep in the background.
• Yume Kyōbashi Castle Road: an Edo-style shopping street near the moat.

Words on the signs at Hikone Castle

Castle signs use a compact set of kanji. 天守 is the keep, 櫓 is a turret, 門 is a gate, 堀 is a moat, and 石垣 is a stone wall. Put a name in front and you have most of the signposts on the hill.

You will also see practical notices at the keep entrance: take off your shoes, carry them in the bag provided, and mind the steep stairs.

Japanese for tickets, the keep and Hikonyan

The ticket office at the front gate sells the castle ticket, which includes Genkyūen, and combination tickets that add the museum. Staff are used to foreign visitors, but asking in Japanese is easy because the questions are always the same: which ticket, what it includes, and how long it takes. Inside the keep, attendants may ask you to take off your shoes and to keep moving on the narrow stairs when it is busy.

Hikonyan, the city's cat mascot in a red samurai helmet, makes regular appearances at the castle. His schedule is posted on the day, and the crowd gathers a few minutes early.

Etiquette, timing and practical tips

Hikone Castle is a working museum of original wooden buildings, and a few habits protect both the keep and you.

• Wear shoes that are easy to take off, and socks: you walk the keep in stocking feet.
• Carry bags in front of you on the stairs; the steps are narrow and nearly vertical in places.
• Wait your turn on the stairs; the keep limits how many people are inside at once when busy.
• Do not touch or lean on the old walls, pillars and window frames.
• Allow at least an hour for the castle and another for Genkyūen and the museum.
• Go early on spring weekends; the cherry blossom season brings long queues at the keep.
• Try Ōmi beef, the famous wagyu of Shiga, at a restaurant near the castle.

Practise the visit before you go

The exchange everyone has is at the ticket window. You ask for a ticket with the counter mai, the attendant tells you what it includes, and you ask your own question. Practise the four lines below until you can say them without reading, and listen for ni mo, also, in the reply.

Then practise with a partner who answers back. In Unihongo, choose the Sightseeing topic and ask your AI Sensei to play the ticket seller at Hikone Castle, or the Directions topic to rehearse finding the castle from the station. Speaking the lines once before the trip makes them come out easily at the gate.

Official information

The official Hikone Castle website publishes current ticket types, opening times, seasonal events such as night illuminations, and any closures of the keep for maintenance. Check it before you go.

• Hikone Castle official website (Japanese and English)