Hamamatsu Castle 浜松城

Hamamatsu Castle was the home of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate. The magnificent restored castle stands at the center of the city of Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture .

Hamamatsu Castle is accessible by bus from Hamamatsu Station, which is a bullet train stop.

From Hamamatsu Station, take any bus from bus stands 1 or 13. Get off at Shiyakusho-minami and walk for six minutes.

The castle is famous for being the seat of the young Tokugawa Ieyasu, who spent 17 years there before uniting Japan after the Battle of Sekigahara and moving the capital to Edo (now Tokyo). Many successive lords of the castle were promoted to important positions in the shogunate, and as such the castle became known as “the Castle of Advancement.” Like many castles in Japan, it was destroyed on orders issued by the Meiji Government during the Meiji Restoration, but was rebuilt. Hamamatsu Castle was rebuilt in 1958.

Built on the original site, the castle looks out over the Pacific, the distant horizons perhaps echoing Ieyasu's own limitless ambitions. Displays of military equipment and objects from the castle and Hamamatsu's history are laid out as visitors ascend to the observatory on the top floor.