A lovely castle with beautiful dark woods and one of the oldest donjon in Japan. Originally built and used by Shibata Katsutoyo a famous general of the Sengoku era. The castle and museum come on a ticket together with a folk history building with various items of the Sengoku era. The castle has ropes next to the hand rails which make the climb up the three levels easy and fun. The views are spectacular. I will let you see those for yourself. The ice cream shop in the parking lot has excellent ice cream as well.

(visits: 1) (castles 60+) pretty decent castle. More popular than I was expecting. Lots of people there for a castle this size. Had English brochure. But no other English. Nice castle park. The castle itself is 45o yen which is a bit pricey for the amount of stuff to see, but you get a nice book mark type ticket. Pretty nice. I have been to castle ruins that were nothing but a few rocks in the woods and they charged 450 yen. I heard this is the oldest original castle in Japan and I think that's why it's popular. But I also recently heard they found some construction here that dates much younger than originally thought, and I think this castle has lost its "oldest" it original crown. Good view at the top, but sorry, Fukui doesn't look that awesome from here. No rivers or close up mountains like you would see from the top of Inuyama castle.

[Maruoka Castle] This is one of the oldest castle in Japan with history back to 1576. It is a small castle surrounded by a quiet community. Foundation of this castle was built by stacked rocks. These rocks were stacked with mild curvatures on the four sides of the castle foundation. That provided better durability bearing the three-floor building on the top. Don’t forget to make a stop at "Brief Message from the Heart Museum" just across the street.

📖 This is one of the “12 remaining Tenshu” (historical castles). In there you will be able to get to know more about its unusual techniques to build it, history of how they restored the castle after earthquake, and most importantly to touch and feel the building yourself, from the base of well-fitted stones up to the wooden structures, it’s literally an art given the technology back then 400+ years ago. 🎟️ Entry ticket contains castle visit along two other indoor museums (History museum and the “Brief message from the heart museum”) It’s definitely an underrated castle to visit in Japan, highly recommended. 🅿️ Parking: It’s easy to get a parking slot down at the entrance during weekdays, there’s 40 parking space. Further parking spaces are located at the other museum which is just 3mins walk away. (You may visit the official website to find out more)

Maruoka Castle : Maruoka Castle is known as one of 12 castle remained after feudal ages. It is located in the east side of Sakai City. The castle was built in Hirayama style in 1576 by one of Oda nobunaga's leading generals. There is a rare feature of 3-story castle keep called " donjon " which is considered to be the oldest one of such structure in Japan. In another name it was also called " Kasumiga Castle " as it used to hide itself in mist when enemies came to approach the castle. Since the castle is built up on a hill such natural phenomenon coincidentally happened around the castle. ( Trans-word+ : TGM Japan Guide )

A gem in Fukui City, totally recommend to visit, the castle history is amazing, beautiful surroundings and fully open to explore.

I was extremely lucky to have gone when there was a special event happening at the Castle. The community at Maruoka Castle is very welcoming. There are local guides that speak English and they are excited to share their knowledge and love for the castle.

Maruoka castle is one of the twelve original castles left in Japan and maybe one of the least visited due to its location. There is only a model of the castle on the first floor of the keep, the rest of the building is empty. You have to take off your shoes when you enter but slippers are provided. The staircases are really steep, there are ropes to help you. From the top you can see over the whole of Sakai City.

It was a small castle, worth visiting if you are in the area and usually there's no crowd. Keep in mind that you must not have issues with steep steps (see the picture of what u need to climb up to reach the highest level). The main significance is that this is one of the 12 remaining castles in its original form in Japan. It seems like there's a light display at night too!

This castle has a beautiful park with the koi fish pond. The ticket entrance is 450¥ for adult. There is free parking area in this place.

Smaller than some other Japanese castles, but still offers a beautiful view of Fukui and the grounds are great to explore. The museum close by can be accessed with a combination ticket and is a quick but fun way to learn some of the local history

It's a very small castle, but it's gorgeous with the cherry blossoms. I'd only recommend it during that time of year, otherwise you may be a bit disappointed due to its size and lack of activities nearby.

Beautiful japanese castle. Worth the visit if you are interested in history and Samurai.

Challenging climb to entrance with no rails on stone steps. Few display elements inside but an authentic experience of early castle design and construction. Good museum and display adjacent.

Nothing has changed. As if it was built 10 years ago.

One of the 12 original castles left in Japan.

Well maintained old structure View is very nice and staff is good

Hasn't got the glamor of the more famous castles around Japan, but still worth the detour if you are in the area. There is a nice, but over priced souvenir shop close by with the typical restaurants you'd expect to get in this kind of setting with some of the most friendly staff I've ever seen. They must be locally employed which makes up for the slightly high cost. Feeding the carp was fun!

The view from The castle was stunning. Although the castle isn’t too big, It was quite adventurous climbing up the castle and we had a lot of fun.

If one is a fan of original castle, please do visit.

Said to be the oldest castle in Japan. The climbs up the steep wooden ladders give a sense of how life may have been for its original inhabitants. At only 200 yen for admission, it was a wonderful cultural experience.

Beautiful little Castle. Grounds are well kept and the staff is very nice.

It's a small castle tower. Interesting, but you won't spend many time in here.

The castle was neat to visit, even if it was small and not easy to get to from most major cities. The great thing was how friendly and helpful the staff and local residents were, even though it was clear we were taxing their English (way better than our Japanese will ever be). We had to visit late on a bad weather day, but they were doing everything they could to make us feel welcome. Although it lacks some of the detailed historical and museum content and displays that other castles have (the original layout diorama was the highlight), it has all the original and authentic feel you should expect from visiting a piece of 450-year old history.