Marugame Castle
licensed photographNaokijp / CC BY-SA 4.0

Kagawa · MarugameNo.635★★Open in map →

Marugame Castle

historyOff the trail — and worth it

A castle on a low hill in central Kagawa, where the stone walls rather than the building are the reason to climb. The grounds are free; only the small wooden keep on top charges admission.

  1. FromTakamatsu Station
  2. under 1 hrJR train, direct from Takamatsu
  3. Get off atMarugame Station (JR Yosan Line)
  4. On foot
  5. Marugame Castle
Directions ↗

The sweet spot

This is a well-signposted castle on every Kagawa itinerary, not a hidden find. What keeps it calm is its shape: most visits aim straight at the keep and back down, while the circuit around the outer walls is longer and thins out quickly.

Where it is

19 more notes in Kagawa · open the map →

What to look for — in walking order

Marugame Castle stone wallsMotokoka / CC BY-SA 4.0
  1. Ote-ichi-no-mon and Ote-ni-no-monthe paired gates at the north entrance, both Important Cultural Properties
  2. The north wall of the Sannomaruthe tallest stretch of the climb, curving outward as it rises
  3. The keepa three-storey wooden tower about 15 metres tall, kept in its original form
  4. The Hitsujisaru turret sitethe south-west corner where the wall came down, now a working repair site
  5. Genkansaki-gomonthe front gate of the former lord's residence, at the foot of the hill

How to actually get there

  1. Takamatsu Station → Marugame Station (JR Yosan Line, direct; limited express, rapid and local trains all stop).
  2. Marugame Station → the Ote gates (walk south through the town centre to the moat).
  3. Ote gates → Sannomaru → the keep (climb the stepped path beside the stone walls).
  4. Sannomaru → the south-west corner to see the rebuilding work, then back down the way you came.
JR Yosan Line west from Takamatsu
Takamatsu Station to Marugame Station runs on the JR Yosan Line with no change. Marugame is a limited-express stop — the Shiokaze, Nanpu, Ishizuchi and Shimanto all call here — and rapid and local trains run through the day as well. The castle stands south of the station, in the middle of the town.
Back from Marugame Station
Trains return towards Takamatsu through the day and into the evening. Limited expresses also run the other way, over the Seto-Ohashi Bridge to Okayama, which makes Marugame an easy break on a longer trip. Check the last departure on the platform if you stay in town for dinner.
Directions from my location (Google Maps) ↗

About the place

Marugame Castle sits on Kameyama, a hill of about 66 metres in the middle of the city. From the moat up to the keep, the stone walls climb in stacked tiers, and their combined height is the greatest of any castle in Japan. The masons finished the faces with a curve that steepens as it rises, a profile known here as the fan slope. The paths through the grounds are open without a ticket, and the charge applies only to the keep at the top. The result is a castle where the walk matters more than the building at the end of it.

How to enjoy it

The keep opens at 9:00 and closes at 16:30, with the last entry at 16:00. The car park inside the grounds opens at 6:00, so the walls can be walked well before the keep unlocks. In summer the climb is exposed, and the cooler hours are the easier walk.

Background & history

Ikoma Chikamasa and his son began the castle in 1597. It passed through several lords before Kyogoku Takakazu took the domain in 1658, and the keep was finished in 1660. That keep still stands, and was designated an Important Cultural Property in 1950. In October 2018, after a summer of heavy rain and a typhoon, two stretches of stonework gave way on the west and south-west sides, and the city has been rebuilding them by hand ever since.

Before you go

Cash
The grounds and the stone walls are free. Admission to the keep is 400 yen for adults and free for elementary and junior high school pupils. The car park inside the grounds is free as well.
Before you go
Stone-wall restoration is still under way on the west and south-west sides, so parts of the grounds are fenced and the walking route can change. The keep may close at short notice during storms or works.
Another way
From Okayama, limited expresses cross the Seto-Ohashi Bridge and stop at Marugame, so the castle also works as a break on the way into Shikoku.
After you get off
From Marugame Station it is about a 15-minute walk south through the town centre to the moat and the Ote gates, and a stepped climb from there.