You can see part of the castle ruins even in the city area.
Features
Northern side
This side is the most likely to show what the castle looked like because the high stone walls and the Inner Moat remain well. However, the original moat was over twice as wide as the current one.
The aerial photo around the castle
The stone walls of the northern sideThe Inner Moat also remains wellThis road seemed to be part of the Inner Moat
Two three-story turrets were built on both edges of the walls in the past, in addition, Tamon-yagura Turret, like a long row house, was also built between them. These structures must have looked great and been a threat to enemies.
The old photo of the two turrets on the stone walls in the past, from the signboard at the siteThe stone walls which had the long row house on them in the pastThe stone wall base for the Northeast Turret, one of the two turretsThe stone wall base for the Northwest Turret, the other of the two turrets
You can also go and walk on the top of the walls from the inside of the Main Enclosure. There is enough space to walk and rest as it was the ground for those buildings. You can look down the walls and moat and see how tall and large they are.
The top of the northern stone wallsThe Inner Moat seen from the Northwest Turret RuinsOverlooking the stone walls and the Inner Moat
Later History
After the Meiji Restoration, Tsu Castle was abandoned. The moats were eventually filled and the castle buildings were demolished accordingly. Tsu City became the capital of Mie Prefecture in the first Meiji Era, so the former castle plain land was a likely place to meet the demand of office buildings. The city finally bought some castle ruins area and opened it as a park in 1958. The city is now checking the condition of the remaining stone walls to prevent them from collapsing as they are aging and being damaged by tree roots. They will consider how to preserve and develop them as a historic site.
The statue of Takatora Todo in the park
My Impression
We usually can not see any trace of the castle in the current city area of Tsu. However, when an excavation was done in the former castle area, some castle items were found. Examples of them can be seen in the spot beside a bank head quarters building, over 100m away from the park entrance. There is an exhibition for stone walls at the edge of the Inner Moat, which were excavated nearby. You can really understand the moat was 80 to 100m wide in the past, seeing it. I think this is another way to enjoy visiting castles.
The excavated stone walls of the Inner Moat which are exhibited beside the bank
How to get There
If you want to visit the castle by car, it is about 10 minutes away from Tsu IC on the Ise Expressway. There is a parking lot in front of the main entrance of the park. By public transportation, it takes about 10 minutes on foot from Tsu-Shinmachi Station. To get to Tsu-Shinmachi Station from Tokyo: Take the Tokaido Shinkansen super express, transfer to a limited express on the Kintetsu-Nagoya Line at Nagoya Station and transfer to a local train at Tsu Station.
The parking lot in front of the main entrance of the park
Today, the ruins of Tsu Castle have been developed as a Castle Park. However, the range of them is limited just including the Main Enclosure, the Western Enclosure as one of the Barbicans, and part of the Inner Moat. The center of the park is like an urban one, not like a historical one, so I will describe the outer block of the park, which still has castle-like items, from one side to the other.
The aerial photo around the castle
The center of the park
Eastern Side
This side was the eastern edge of the Main enclosure, which has the main entrance to the park and an imitation three-story turret built in the present time. It was also one of the original entrances.
The main entrance of the parkThe imitation turret beside the entranceThe ruins of the original entrance
The Inner Moat on this side was filled in, used as roads, a parking lot, another park, and a city area. The road directly leading to the entrance may have been traced from a path of the Eastern Enclosure, the other barbican.
The road directly leading to the entranceThe east of the park has become the road
The stone walls of this side remain, but the upper part collapsed, and the lower part is mortared to prevent it from collapsing.
The stone walls of the eastern sideThe lower part is mortared
Southern side
This side has stone walls as well, but their condition is better than those of the eastern side. If you look at the stone walls carefully, you will find the joint of the left and right parts. That means the edge of the left part was the corner of the older Main Enclosure when the castle was called Anotsu Castle. The right part was added by Takatora. This also means the left part is older.
The stone walls of the southern sideThere is the joint of the older part on the left and the newer part on the right
This side has a small entrance between the stone walls, called Uzume-mon or the Small Back Gate. It had been an entrance to the outside of Anotsu Castle. In Takatora’s period, the Inner Moat was in front of it.
The Small Back GateThe Small Back Gate seen from the inside, the stone wall base for the Small Main Tower on the right
There is also the stone wall base for the Main Tower at the southwestern corner. The base has two tiers, the upper one for the large Main Tower and the lower one for the small Main Tower. The towers were burned down in the Battle of Anotsu Castle in 1600, and Takatora didn’t rebuild them.
The stone wall base for the Main Tower (the front for the Large Main Tower and the back for the Small Main Tower)The stone wall base for the Large Main Tower seen from the inside
Western side
This side has the Western Enclosure which is the only remaining Barbican beside the Main Enclosure. You can experience how to enter the Main Enclosure in the past. You can first walk across the earthen bridge over the partly remaining Inner Moat from the south. This bridge was originally made of wood.
The earthen bridge going the Western EnclosureThe Western Enclosure seen from outside the Inner Moat
The entrance of the Western Enclosure is surrounded by altered stone walls, which still looks like the original. You will next turn right and go to the Main Enclosure through a gate called Nyutoku-mon. This gate was originally built for the Tsu Domain school located elsewhere and has been relocated to the present location. The area between the Western and Main Enclosures are connected by a spacy Japanese garden. However, they were originally connected by a thin route, which were strongly protected.
The entrance of the Western EnclosureThe entrance viewed from the insideThe Nyutoku-mon GateThere was another entrance of the Main Enclosure before the Japanese garden
There are so many attractions you should check out in the castle.
Features
From Main Gate to Nakagomon Gate Ruins
Today, Wakayama Castle site has been developed as Wakayama Castle Park by Wakayama City. It still includes the main portion of the original castle. It has five entrances same as the castle had, as the Main, Okaguchi, Oimawashi, former Akazuno, and former Fukiage Gates.
The map around the castle
If you want to see what the castle was like, it may be better to enter the Main Gate at the northeastern part of the park. The gate and the bridge in front it over the Inner Moat were restored in the present time. Once you enter the gate, you will see how large the castle grounds and moats are.
The Drawing of the Main Gate Area from the Illustrated collection of Famous Sites in Kii Province, from the signboard at the siteThe Main GateA view from the inside of the Main GateThe Inner Moat at the eastern side of the castle
You will go to the ruins of Nakagomon, the second gateway, which still have alternating stone walls. This is an interesting spot where you can see two types of the gate stone walls using roughly and precisely processed stones. In addition, you can see the old stone walls surrounding the hill using natural greenschists ahead. These walls were built in different periods.
The ruins of Nakagomon GateLooking down the alternated part from the top of the stone wallsThe walls using granite porphyry stones on the left and the walls using sand stones on the rightThe walls using natural Greenschist stones
Second and Western Enclosures
The Second Enclosure is the west of the Main Gate area. It has only a rock garden built in the present time, but it had the luxury Main Hall with turrets beside the Inner Moat. The Large Hall, part of the Main Hall, was moved to Osaka Castle and remained until 1947 when it was burned. Wakayama City is planning to restore the Large Hall at the original position with some turrets and the O-oku residence in a long term. The distant view of the Main Tower may be the best seen from the enclosure.
The map around the Second Enclosure
The inside of the Second EnclosureThe ruins of Monomi-Yagura Turret at the Second EnclosureThe Inner Moat at the northern side of the Second EnclosureThe Large Hall which was moved to Osaka Castle, quoted from the website of Wakayama CityA distant view of the Main Tower from the Second Enclosure
In the next Western Enclosure, the water garden, called Momijidani-teien or the Autumn Leave Valley Garden, was restored in the present time and designated as a National Scenic Beauty. the Passage Bridge between the Second and Western Enclosures was also restored in 2006. You can walk into the roofed and slanted bridge which is quite rare.
The Autumn Leave Valley Garden in the Western EnclosureThe Passage BridgeThe interior of the Passage Bridge
Remaining Okaguchi Gate
The area around the Okaguchi Gate at the southeastern part of the park is also great to visit. The gate building with the mud wall beside is one of the few remaining buildings of the castle and designated as an Important Cultural Property. It looks like a simple gate with a gabled roof, but it was sandwiched by turrets on both sides.
The map around the Okaguchi Gate
The Okaguchi GateThe remaining mud wallsThe top of the Okaguchi GatePart of the Drawing of the Okaguchi Gate Area from the Illustrated collection of Famous Sites in Kii Province, from the signboard at the site
Inside the gate, there is the second gateway similar to the Main Gate area. You can see a great and high stone wall base for Matsunomaru Turret on the left. Other stone walls form a square space called Masugata to prevent their enemies from attacking them. No buildings remain on them, however, these newer stone walls are also worth seeing.
The second gateway from the Okaguchi GateThe stone wall base for Matsunomaru TurretThe square space seen from the top of the base
Going Main Enclosure and Main Tower climbing Slope
There are two routes to the Main Enclosure on the hill as the Front Slope and the Back Slope. The Front Slope is a gentler but longer route. The first part of it is wide and zigzagged, with beautiful paved Greenschist stones.
The map around the Main Enclosure
The Front SlopeThe beautiful paved Greenschist stones
The last part is long, with old stone walls on the right hill side and several turret stone wall bases on the left valley side. Currently, visitors can enjoy a relaxing walk on that route, but at that time, the enemies would have found the route troubling as they could be counter-attacked.
The last part the Front SlopeA turret stone wall base on the valley side
The Back Slope is steeper but shorter. This route is also made and surrounded by old stone walls, but has a different taste with the mossy stones.
The Back SlopeThe mossy stone walls
The top of the hill has two peaks, one was for another Main Hall, and the other is for the Main Tower. The Main Hall coexisted with that of the Second Enclosure, but it was not often used for its small size and inconvenient location. There is a water station now and it is a good view point of the Main Tower.
Going to the Main Enclosure from the Front SlopeThe Main Hall Ruins of the Main EnclosureA view of the Main Tower from the ruins
Most visitors’ destination is the Main Tower. It is actually a modern building, not original, but was apparently restored in 1958. Its stone wall base is original and thought that it is the oldest among the stone walls in the castle. A building like the Main Tower may have been built on it from the first stage.
A close view of the Main TowerThe stone wall base for the Main Tower
The style of the tower is called Renritsu-siki or the Tower Grouping, which refers to the Large and Small Main Towers and turrets being connected by Hall Turrets like a corridor. The interior of the tower is used as a historical museum and the top floor is used as the observation platform.
You can see the style of the Tower Grouping from the top floorA storage box for tea ceremony utensils, one of the exhibitions in the towerThe top floor of the Large Main Tower as the observation platformAn eastern view including the Main Hall Ruins from the platform
