Hikone Castle

En un regard

Le château en bref

Hikone Castle crowns Mount Hikone (also called Mount Konki) on the eastern shore of Lake Biwa, in Shiga Prefecture. Its three-tiered keep, one of Japan's twelve original keeps, is a National Treasure together with its attached turrets. It stands out for its richly composed roofs, combining triangular and curved gables with temple-style cusped windows. The castle is inseparable from the Ii clan, one of the houses closest to the Tokugawa. Begun in 1603 by the sons of Ii Naomasa and completed in 1622, it served as the seat of the Hikone domain throughout the Edo period; the senior councillor Ii Naosuke was among its lords. According to tradition, the keep was reassembled from parts of Ōtsu Castle, and other buildings came from Nagahama Castle. Slated for demolition in the early Meiji era, it was preserved following imperial intervention. The Genkyū-en garden, turrets, moats and a museum holding the Ii family collections complete the visit.