Nagoya Castle

Nagoya Castle is a Japanese castle in the city of Nagoya. The Owari Domain built it in 1612, in the Edo period, on the site of an earlier castle of the Oda clan. It was the heart of one of Japan's most important castle towns. The castle has also been called Kinjo, which means "Golden Castle".

Its famous main keep is crowned with a pair of golden shachi, mythical sea creatures with the head of a tiger and the body of a fish. The keep was partly destroyed when Nagoya was bombed in 1945, in World War II, and repairs and reconstruction have continued since 1957. The castle later became the core of modern Nagoya, and ownership passed to the city in 1930.

What are the golden shachi?

The shachi, or shachihoko, are fish-like animals with tiger heads and sharp fins. Placing them on the roof was thought to protect a castle from fire. The golden shachi at Nagoya Castle are the symbol of the whole city. They were recast for the first time in November 1730 and covered with wire mesh. Together with the keep itself, they are the first things people look for when they see the castle.

What is the history of the castle?

Tokugawa Ieyasu, the shogun, ordered about twenty lords to help build it, and work started in January 1610. Great artists painted the walls and sliding doors of the palace in 1614. In 1752 an important repair fixed the tilt of the keep, which had been caused by its stone wall settling unevenly. The castle gave its name to places like Meijo Park, the Meijo subway line, and Meijo University.

On the globe

The model shows the five-roofed main keep rising from a stone base, crowned by the famous golden shachihoko.