Kanazawa Castle

This is an interesting restored castle. The castle is accessible for people with mobility issues, with lifts and regular stairs (not the original steep stairs). There are exhibits on how the original castle was built and English information throughout.

The entry fee for the castle alone is 310 yen and for both the castle and Kenrokuen Garden is 500 yen.  What a bargain!

From Jcastle:

The castle was first founded by Sakuma Morimasa, a retainer of Oda Nobunaga, and nephew of Shibata Katsuie in 1580. He started to build up the castle and castle town but was defeated and executed by Hideyoshi at the Battle of Shizugatake in 1583. After the battle, Maeda Toshiie, an ally of Hideyoshi, who held the neighboring Noto province was also given Kaga province. It was taken over by Maeda Toshiie, who built up the castle in earnest. In 1585, Maeda was also granted the lands of Ecchu, making him one of the richest lords under the Toyotomi regime. The Maeda clan established a prosperous province which allowed them to rule peacefully for 14 generations until the end of the Meiji period. 

The castle originally had a large six-level main keep, but it burned down in 1602 and was never rebuilt. Kanazawa Castle had several fires that destroyed parts of the castle over the years. The Kenrokuen Garden was built at about the same elevation as the Honmaru of the castle in 1676 and gradually expanded over 150 years. Formally it was intended for entertaining, but if any attackers made it this far into the city it's the perfect location to build a base for further attacks on the castle, so it was lightly fortified as a satellite fortification of the main castle.

Can you imagine dropping stones on your enemies?

This is the open lift between floors.

Looking out one of the windows, you can see the size using the people on the sidewalk for scale.

The floor stays shiny because shoes are left at the entrance.

This hands-on exhibit shows how the wood was connected.

Another look out the window.

Next, walking around outside.  Notice the ramp on the right side of the photo.  I'm glad to see the restored castle areas are accessible.

If you are interested in Japanese Castles, you can find links to other castle visits I've made on my Japanese Castle page.