Kishiwada Castle, Japanese castle in Kishiwada, Japan

Kishiwada Castle is a flatland castle whose main and second enclosures together resemble a chikiri, a loom thread-winding tool, which gave it the name Chikiri Castle. The present three-story linked lookout tower, about 22 metres high, was rebuilt in 1954 with white plaster walls and dark tiled roofs above a sloped stone base. The Honmaru Garden, a dry landscape garden designed by Shigemori Mirei in 1953, arranges stones in eight formations based on Zhuge Liang's Eight Arrays.

Kishiwada was settled by the family of Kishiwada Haruuji, a retainer of Kusunoki Masashige at the 1336 Battle of Minatogawa, but no castle is recorded there. Excavations found a mountain castle built in the late 15th century about 500 m southeast of the present site and abandoned by the early 16th century. The first document naming a castle here is a 1558 letter recording the Miyoshi clan's entry; Koide Hidemasa built a five-storey keep, lost to lightning in 1827 and never rebuilt before the castle was abolished in 1871.

The castle's alternate name, Chikiri Castle, comes from the resemblance of the main and second enclosures to a chikiri, a loom tool that winds vertical threads. Kishiki Shrine inside the grounds plays on chikiri and the word for pledge, making it a matchmaking shrine. The garden is a dry landscape garden themed on Zhuge Liang's eight formations, with rock groups for heaven, earth, wind, cloud, bird, snake, dragon and tiger around a central general stone.

The castle museum opens from 10 in the morning until 5 in the afternoon, with entry for adults costing 300 yen while children through junior high school enter at no charge. The climb to the tower involves several steep staircases, so sturdy footwear is recommended.

The three-story tower was reconstructed in concrete in 1954 after lightning destroyed the wooden structure in 1827. From the top floor, visitors can see across Osaka Bay and the surrounding mountains on clear days.