Kuwana Castle, Japanese castle in Kuwana, Japan
Kuwana Castle is an Edo-period fortress on the Ibi River in the city of Kuwana. The complex includes stone walls reaching up to 20 feet (6 meters) high, moats with standing water, and a two-story turret with wooden beams and grey tiles.
The site was developed from 1601 under Honda Tadakatsu after his appointment as castle lord by Tokugawa Ieyasu. The 1701 fire destroyed all tower structures, and samurai families never rebuilt the fortress to its original size afterward.
The name comes from the riverbank used by feudal lords to monitor shipping. Today, cherry trees line the paths, and in spring families come to picnic and photograph beneath the blossoms.
The park grounds are about a ten-minute walk from Kuwana Station and can be entered freely every day. The reconstructed turret offers a viewing point over the river and surrounding neighborhoods, and the stone paths are mostly dry and level.
The site was once built so close to the riverbank that waves during high water struck the outer walls. Today, several hundred feet of land formed by sediment over centuries now lie between the fortress and the water.
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