Oka Castle Ruins — Attraction in Taketa

(castles visited: 60+)

One of the best castle ruins I have visited. (I drove). The parking was easy to find. Easy to understand map and information (you would be surprised how many castles locations have next to no or terrible information, maps, and impossible to find parking).

This castle was up in the sky. I felt a millions miles high. You couldn't hear the highway below or the city. But see Aso-san 100km away. I could have spent all day up there.

It is just castle ruins, mostly foundation, but it's still mind boggling how they haul this stuff up and build on these mile high sheer cliffs. Getting even a few feet to the edge triggered my very mild fear of heights.

This was a really amazing complex back on it's prime. I just couldn't imagine what it would have been like...

Probably the best castle ruins in Japan. Not just the view but the grounds, how they are laid out and how they are left in a wonderfully ruined state. I could feel how this inspired one of the most famous Japanese songs, by composer Taki Rentaro whose house you can visit in neighboring Taketa which is a nice example of a small Japanese town. The grounds will take time to walk, at least an hour. There's no gate so go before or after opening hours to avoid the fee. The parking lot...

This place was so amazing. The ruins are beautiful, and the free app you can download is perfect for discovering the history of the ruins. The staff was really nice and tried to talk to us even though we didn't speak very good Japanese. I lost my glasses there and they sent them back to my place in Tokyo when I asked them to! I'll remember those castle ruins for...