This castle was built in 1604 by Takatora Todo, a master castle builder.
It is a coastal plain castle with seawater drawn into the three-layered moat, a rarity in Japan, and was a castle that made the most of the sea, as Imabari was a strategic point for marine transportation, with boats able to enter the moat directly from the sea.
It is one of the three great water castles in Japan, along with Takamatsu Castle (Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture) and Nakatsu Castle (Nakatsu City, Oita Prefecture).
The stonewalls and inner moat remain almost exactly as they were in the Edo period, and the five-story, six-story castle tower was reconstructed in 1980.
The castle tower is used as an observatory and exhibition hall, and 2,500 items of armor, armors, swords, etc. are on permanent display.
From the top floor, one can see the Kurushima Kaikyo Bridge on the Shimanami Sea Route and other views of the Seto Inland Sea.
The east corner turret was reconstructed as the Gokin turret, and the mountain village turret was reconstructed in the west corner of Ninomaru.
9:00-17:00
December 29 - December 31
General: 520 yen
Students: 260 yen
High school students and younger or under 18: Free
Seniors (65 and over): 420 yen
5 min. by bus from Imabari Station *Take the bus bound for Imabari Office, get off at “Imabari-jo-mae” and walk for a short time
15 min. on foot from Imabari Port
10 min. drive from Shimanami Kaido, Imabari IC
15 minutes drive from Imabari Komatsu Road, Imabari Yunoura IC