SHIGA - A section of stone wall at Hikone Castle, one of Japan’s few surviving original Edo-period castles and a National Treasure whose main keep remains intact more than 400 years after its construction, collapsed after heavy rain caused by Typhoons No. 7 and No. 8, Hikone city officials said.
The city said the damaged section was part of the Komegura Suimon stone wall along the castle’s inner moat. The collapse extended across an area about 6.5 meters wide and 2.5 meters high.
No injuries were reported.
Officials believe the collapse was caused by heavy rain linked to Typhoons No. 7 and No. 8.
The Komegura Suimon stone wall was also damaged by heavy rain in July 2024. The city said it is considering steps toward repair.
The castle stands in Hikone, Shiga Prefecture, on a hill near Lake Biwa. It was built in the early 17th century by the Ii family, a powerful clan that served the Tokugawa shogunate. Construction began in 1603, shortly after Tokugawa Ieyasu’s victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, and was completed around 1622.
The site was chosen for strategic reasons. Before Hikone Castle was built, the nearby Sawayama Castle had been controlled by Ishida Mitsunari, one of the leading figures on the losing side at Sekigahara. After Mitsunari’s defeat, Ieyasu placed Ii Naomasa, one of his most trusted generals, in control of the area. The Ii clan then developed Hikone Castle as the center of Hikone Domain.
The castle became the political and military base of the Ii family for more than 250 years during the Edo period. The Ii clan held a high position within the Tokugawa order, and several of its leaders played major roles in national politics. The most famous was Ii Naosuke, a senior shogunate official who helped push Japan toward opening its ports to foreign powers in the 19th century before being assassinated outside Edo Castle in 1860.
Hikone Castle is especially valuable because it survived the wave of castle demolitions that followed the Meiji Restoration. Many castles across Japan were dismantled in the late 19th century as the country moved away from feudal rule and modernized its political and military systems. Hikone, however, retained much of its original structure, including its main keep, moats, gates, stone walls and defensive layout.
The castle’s three-story wooden keep is one of only 12 original surviving castle keeps in Japan. It is also one of only five original keeps designated as National Treasures, together with Himeji, Matsumoto, Inuyama and Matsue castles. While many Japanese castles seen today are modern reconstructions, Hikone Castle preserves the atmosphere and construction techniques of the early Edo period.
The wider castle grounds also remain important. The moats, stone walls and surviving structures show how early modern Japanese castles combined military defense with political authority and administrative control. The castle town that developed around Hikone also reflected the power of the domain, with samurai residences, merchant districts and roads arranged around the castle.
Hikone Castle has long been regarded as a symbol of Shiga Prefecture and the Lake Biwa region. It is also a major tourist destination, known for its historic buildings, views over the lake and the surrounding Genkyuen Garden, a traditional landscape garden built for the Ii family.
The castle was added to Japan’s tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage status in 1992, and local authorities have continued efforts to seek formal inscription. Those efforts have focused on Hikone Castle’s unusually complete preservation as a feudal castle complex from the early Edo period.
That historical importance gives added significance to damage at the site, even when limited to a specific section of wall. The recently collapsed area, known as the Komegura Suimon stone wall, stands along the castle’s inner moat. Hikone city said the wall collapsed across a section about 6.5 meters wide and 2.5 meters high, with no injuries reported.
The same stone wall was also damaged by heavy rain in July 2024. City officials are now considering repair measures, as the preservation of Hikone Castle remains closely tied not only to local heritage but also to Japan’s wider effort to protect the few remaining original castles from the Edo period.
