Bingo · FukuyamaNo.1113★★Open in map →
Fukuyama Castle
A castle a few minutes north of the Shinkansen platform, rebuilt after the war and then given back the iron plating that once covered its north wall alone. The side worth the walk faces away from the station.
- FromFukuyama Station north exit (JR Sanyo Shinkansen)
- A few minutes on footShinkansen stop, then walk
- Fukuyama Castle
The sweet spot
Fukuyama Castle is not obscure. It is the first thing a Shinkansen passenger sees at this stop, and the city treats it as its symbol. What goes unseen is the north wall. The station lies south of the castle, so the whole approach faces the plastered side, and the feature that makes this keep unlike any other sits on the face nobody walks around to.
Where it is
25 more notes in Hiroshima · open the map →What to look for — in walking order
- Sujigane-gomon Gatethe gate granted from Fushimi Castle, an Important Cultural Property at the main approach
- Fushimi Turreta turret brought from Fushimi Castle, visible from the Shinkansen platform below
- North wall of the keepthe iron-plated face, reached only by walking round to the back of the tower
- Fukuyama Castle Museumthe museum occupying the reconstructed keep, entered from the plaza side
- Tsukimi Turret and Oyudonoreconstructions from the same postwar campaign as the keep, on the honmaru edge
How to actually get there
- Get off at Fukuyama and leave by the north exit.
- Cross to the stone walls and climb the steps to the Sujigane gate.
- Walk around behind the keep to reach the iron-plated north wall.
- Finish at the museum inside the keep, then return to the same exit.
- Fukuyama Station north exit → the castle
- Fukuyama is a Sanyo Shinkansen stop as well as a Sanyo Main Line and Fukuen Line station. Leave by the north exit and the castle grounds begin across the road; the climb to the honmaru is one short flight of steps.
- Back to the platform
- The return takes the same few minutes, which is why this works as a stopover rather than a day trip. Shinkansen services thin out late at night, so check the last departure in your direction before you linger on the grounds.
About the place
Fukuyama Castle sits directly north of Fukuyama Station, close enough that the Shinkansen platform looks straight at one of its turrets. Three of the keep's walls are white plaster, in the ordinary way. The fourth, the north face, was covered in iron plates. Position explains it: the keep stood at the back edge of the castle grounds and was exposed on that side, so the iron answered weather and attack at once. No other Japanese keep is recorded with the same treatment. It is also, awkwardly, the one wall you cannot see from the station.
How to enjoy it
Come early. The open ground around the tower is accessible for longer hours than the museum inside it, so the outdoor circuit — gate, turret, north wall — can be walked before the ticket desk opens, then seen again in different light. If you are only changing trains, the north exit plus one lap of the honmaru is the realistic minimum.
Background & history
Mizuno Katsunari, a relative of the Tokugawa house, was posted to Bingo and raised the castle in 1622. Two structures granted to him from Fushimi Castle, the Fushimi turret and the Sujigane gate, still stand and are designated Important Cultural Properties. Air raids destroyed the keep in 1945, and a reinforced-concrete replacement went up in 1966. The iron cladding on the north wall came back only in 2022, the year the castle marked four hundred years.
Before you go
- Cash
- The park around the keep is listed as free to enter. The museum inside the keep is ticketed and the current rate is posted at the entrance. Carry a little cash, though the station side of the castle has plenty of card-friendly shops.
- Before you go
- The museum closes on Mondays and over the year-end, so a Monday stopover leaves you the grounds only — not a wasted trip, since the north wall is outdoors. Check the museum calendar if the interior is the point of your visit.
- Another way
- Arriving on a local train instead of the Shinkansen changes nothing: the Sanyo Main Line and the Fukuen Line use the same station and the same north exit. If you come out on the south side by mistake, the castle is still walkable — you simply pass under the tracks first.
- After you get off
- From the north exit, cross the road and head for the stone walls in front of you. Take the steps up and you enter the honmaru through the Sujigane gate.