Fukuyama Castle 福山城
The only Japanese castle with a tenshu clad in iron on its north side, restored in 2022.
It was the last great newly built castle of the early Edo period, completed in 1622 by Mizuno Katsunari: an exception to the edict of 1615, which banned a second castle in any province. It was the seat of the Fukuyama domain, founded by the same Mizuno Katsunari in 1619, and the museum inside now tells its history. The bombing of 8 August 1945 destroyed the main tower, but the Fushimi turret and the main gate, moved here from Fushimi Castle, were saved from the flames and remain Important Cultural Properties; the present tenshu, in reinforced concrete, was rebuilt in 1966 for the city's fiftieth anniversary.
Hiroshima
Fukuyama
