Kobe & Hyogo · Landmarks

Best Castle & Palace in Kobe & Hyogo

13 places, each checked by our team.

• Ako Castle Ruins 赤穂城Ako — Rare flatland castle by the Seto Inland Sea, home of the lords of the 47 Ronin story; Top 100 Castle with restored gardens.
• Amagasaki Castle 尼崎城Amagasaki — Four-storey castle keep rebuilt in 2019 by Amagasaki Station, with interactive exhibits and a top-floor lookout.
• Arioka Castle Ruins 有岡城跡Itami — National historic site beside JR Itami Station: stone walls of Araki Murashige's castle, where Kuroda Kanbei was imprisoned.
• Haga Castle (Haga Castle Historic Park) 波賀城（波賀城史跡公園）Shiso (Haga) — Mountain-top castle park in Shiso with a rebuilt two-storey yagura and gate overlooking the Inaba road.
• Himeji Castle 姫路城Himeji — Japan's largest and best-preserved original castle, the 'White Heron Castle', a National Treasure and UNESCO World Heritage site.
• Izushi Castle Ruins 出石城跡Izushi (Toyooka) — Stone-walled castle site above Izushi's castle town, with 37 red torii climbing to Inari shrine.
• Kuroi Castle Ruins 黒井城跡Tamba (Kasuga) — Mountain castle on Mt Inomaru in Tamba, held by 'Red Demon' Akai Naomasa against Akechi Mitsuhide.
• Miki Castle Ruins 三木城跡Miki — Site of Miki Castle, famed for the 1578-80 'starvation siege' by Hideyoshi, now a hilltop park with a lookout.
• Sasayama Castle Ruins 篠山城Tamba-Sasayama — Castle built by Tokugawa Ieyasu's order in 1609 in Tamba-Sasayama, with massive stone walls and a reconstructed Ozoin hall; Top 100 Castle.
• Sumoto Castle Ruins (Mt Mikuma) 洲本城跡（三熊山）Awaji Island (Sumoto) — Mountain-top castle ruins on Awaji Island with huge stone walls and a 1928 mock keep that is the oldest in Japan.
• Takeda Castle Ruins 竹田城Asago (Takeda) — Mountaintop stone-wall ruins in Asago known as the 'castle in the sky' for appearing above a sea of clouds on autumn mornings.
• Tatsuno Castle 龍野城Tatsuno — White-walled castle at the foot of Mt Keiro in Tatsuno's old town, with a rebuilt Edo-period palace and turrets.
• Yakami Castle Ruins 八上城跡Tamba-Sasayama — Huge Hatano clan mountain castle on 'Tamba Fuji' (Mt Takashiro), besieged by Akechi Mitsuhide.