Kameyama Castle, Japanese castle in Kameyama, Mie Prefecture, Japan
Kameyama Castle is a Japanese castle in Kameyama, Mie Prefecture. Stone walls encircle the raised grounds, and a wooden watchtower still stands on the site among maintained pathways.
Seki Sanetada built the first castle in 1265 at Wakayama, west of the present site, as the head castle of the Seki clan. Okamoto Munenori moved it southeast to its current location in 1590 and rebuilt the main structures. In 1636 Honda Toshitsugu replaced the lost keep with a three-story yagura and a Tamon-yagura on the keep base.
Local residents use the castle park as a meeting point, where walkers stroll under old trees along the stone walls. In spring, families gather for hanami picnics on the lawns below the surviving watchtower.
The castle park sits about a ten-minute walk north from JR Kameyama Station on the Kansai Main Line. The stone walls and watchtower remain open year-round for visitors to explore and view the surrounding countryside.
A mix-up in 1632 led to the accidental demolition of the main tower when orders for another castle with the same name in Tanba province were misdirected. The Tamon-yagura watchtower survived as one of the few original wooden structures on the grounds.
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