Marugame Castle

The four-story stone wall is 60 meters high.
The castle was built on the 66-meter-high Kameyama Mountain and surrounded by a moat (inner moat). It is one of the 12 existing castle towers.

The four layers of stonewalls piled up from the inner moat where swans play to the top of the mountain are said to be the tallest in Japan, exceeding 60 meters in total.
It is called the “fan slope” and is beautiful with its gentle curves.

During the reign of Toyotomi, Ikoma Chikamasa was given 170,000 koku of Sanuki stone and built Takamatsu Castle as his main castle, with a branch castle built in Kameyama in 1597.
After six years of work, the present castle was almost completed in 1602.

At the top of the castle, the main circle is topped by a tower built in the Edo period (1603-1868).
Built in 1660 (Manji 3), the three-story, three-tiered tower is 15 meters high and is the smallest of the existing castle towers.
It also has staggered gables and Chinese gables. The entire area of the Seto-ohashi Bridge can be seen from the castle.

The entire area of the castle ruins has been designated as a national historic site and is now Kameyama Park. In addition to the castle tower, the Ote 1-mon gate, Ote 2-mon gate, the entrance gate for the feudal lord, a guardhouse, a cage room, and a row house still exist, of which the castle tower, Ote 1-mon gate, and Ote 2-mon gate are designated as important cultural properties.

Marugame Castle, Hirosaki Castle, and Kochi Castle are the only castles in Japan where both the main gate and the castle keep are still in existence. 

Ikoma Chikamasa (1526-1603)
Born in Mino. Warlord. After serving under Oda and Toyotomi and achieving military success in the battles of Shizugatake and Komakiyama, he became lord of Takashimada in Omi, Kobe in Ise, Sanda Castle, and Ako Castle, before building Takamatsu Castle in Sanuki and becoming the lord of the castle.

Yamazaki Ieharu (1594-1648)
Born in Tsushima. Warlord. He was transferred to Marugame Castle by order of the Edo Shogunate to rule Western Sanuki. A master castle builder, he constructed Mihara, Matsuyama, and Osaka castles.

Kyogoku Takakazu (1619-1662)
Transferred from Tatsuno in Banshu to Nishi-Sanuki, he became the first lord of the Kyogoku family in the Marugame domain. The Kyogoku family was descended from Ujinobu, son of Sasaki Nobutsuna of the Omi Minamoto clan.