Iga Ueno Castle
Ueno Castle 上野城
The town of Iga-Ueno in Mie Prefecture is best known for its Ninja and Basho Museums but the nearby Ueno Castle Park is also worth a look for Ueno Castle, known for its impressive stone walls.
Iga Ueno Castle History
Ueno Castle, known as Hakuho (white phoenix) castle dates from the early 17th century and was built on the site of an existing fortress by the feudal lord Takatora Todo, an important local ally of the Tokugawa regime. Todo carried on the construction work of his predecessor, Tsutsui Sadatsugu, who in turn had continued the arlier castle construction of Takigawa Katsutoshi.
Ueno Castle keep was rebuilt in the 1930's recreating the style of castle architecture of the Momoyama Period.
Most impressive are the 30m tall castle walls - some of the tallest stone walls, if not the tallest walls of any castle in Japan. Inside, Iga Ueno Castle offers the usual collections of documents, samurai swords, armor, roof tiles, painted scrolls, dolls and taiko drums in its museum.
Ueno Castle (White Phoenix Castle)
Iga Ueno Castle in Mie Prefecture is known for its incredibly tall stone walls
There are excellent views of Ueno city and the surrounding countryside from the observation deck on the top floor of Ueno Castle. The castle park is also pleasant to wander and look down on the walls and moat, especially in early spring when the cherry blossoms are in bloom.
Ueno Castle
106 Marunouchi,
Iga-Ueno
Mie
Tel: 0595 23 3148
Admission: 500 yen
Hours: 9am-5pm (last entry 4.45pm)
Ueno Castle (White Phoenix Castle), Iga-Ueno
Ueno Castle Access
Iga-Ueno's main tourist attraction, the Iga Ninja Museum is on the edge of Ueno Park. The nearest station to Ueno Park and the Ninja Museum is Kintetsu Ueno-shi Station.
From Nagoya there are two routes to Ueno-shi Station both taking over two hours. Travel by JR Kansai Line and change at Kameyama to Iga-Ueno Station and then Kintetsu Iga Line to Ueno-shi Station.
By Kintetsu Line from Nagoya Station change at Ise Nakagawa for Iga Kanbe, then transfer to the Kintetsu Iga Line and on to Ueno-shi Station.
From Osaka the journey is around 90 minutes. From Tsuruhashi Kintetsu Station take an Express train to Iga Kanbe, then transfer to the Kintetsu Iga Line and on to Ueno-shi Station.
Alternatively from Osaka JR Station take a train to Nara and then transfer to a Kansai Main Line train to Iga-Ueno Station and then Kintetsu Iga Line to Ueno-shi Station.
From Kyoto take the JR Nara Line to Kizu, then the JR Kansai Line from Kizu to Kamo then local train from Kamo to Iga-Ueno, then transfer to the Kintetsu Iga Line and on to Ueno-shi Station. Journey time is over two hours.
By Tokaido Shinkansen, Nagoya is 52 minutes from Osaka and 1 hour 40 minutes from Tokyo.
Bus/Road
There are long distance bus services from Osaka (90 minutes), Nagoya Meitetsu Bus Station (90 minutes), and Tokyo (8 hours).
There is also a direct bus from the Hachijoguchi Exit (south side) of Kyoto Station to Iga-Ueno from the bus stop outside the Hotel Keihan. The bus runs from April 1 to September 30 and takes 90 minutes. The fare is 4,100 yen for an adult one-way or 5,300 yen return. The bus fare includes a discount on entry to the Ninja Museum.
If you are driving from Nagoya exit the Meihan National Highway at the Nakase Interchange; from Osaka exit the Meihan National Highway at the Ueno Interchange.
Ueno Castle (White Phoenix Castle), Iga-Ueno
Ueno Castle Stone Walls, Iga-Ueno
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Iga Ueno Castle: read a guide to Ueno Castle in Iga-Ueno. Ueno Castle has some of the hightest walls of any castle in Japan.
