Fukuyama Castle

Fukuyama Castle (福山城, Fukyamajō) is a castle on a low hill right across Fukuyama Station. It was originally constructed in 1622 under the command of the cousin of Tokugawa Ieyasu, but its current main keep is a ferro-concrete, postwar reconstruction.

The castle was one of the last new ones to be completed in the early Edo Period and was used as a base to protect western Japan. Most of its buildings were demolished after the end of the feudal era, but the main keep was preserved and dedicated a National Treasure before it was destroyed in the air raids of World War II. The current main keep dates to 1966.

In the early 2020s, the main keep underwent renovation works, in which its most unique characteristic was revived: one of its four sides is covered by protective iron plates, resulting in three of its sides being white, while just the northern side is black.

The inside of the main keep houses a modern museum about the history of the castle and city. Visitors can also participate in some hands-on activities, including a horse riding and a matchlock shooting simulator at no additional cost. Like in many other castles across Japan, visitors can also enjoy panoramic views from the top floor.

The spacious park that surrounds the main keep turns into an attractive cherry blossom spot typically around early April and also hosts multiple other attractions:

At the northern base of the main keep lies the Fukuju Kaikan, a traditional Japanese-style building and an old-fashioned Western-style building surrounded by an attractive landscape garden, built in the 1930s by a successful local businessman and later donated to the city. The gardens can be entered freely during the opening hours and allow for attractive views in combination with the castle keep towering above. The buildings can be rented for the hosting of events and should not be entered without attaining permission.

Also located on the outer castle grounds is the Hiroshima Prefectural Museum of History, which focuses on how inhabitants of the Seto Inland Sea region lived through the ages and provides a good overview into Japan during the feudal period. Its most unique attraction is a large-scale reconstruction of a part of the former port town of Kusado Sengen, which museum visitors can wander around.

A stone's throw away from the history museum is the Fukuyama Museum of Art, a two-story building with a handful of sculptures both inside and outside. The permanent collection showcases artwork by local Fukuyama artists as well as those from around the region, in addition to modern and contemporary art by both domestic and international artists. The sitting areas in the museum have large panel windows that allow for views of the small garden outside and Fukuyama Castle on the hill behind .