Hikone Castle

A castle built over a period of some 20 years by Ii Naokatsu, the son of Ii Naomasa, who was counted as one of Tokugawa Ieyasu’s four greatest generals. Many of the structures, including the castle tower; turrets; and the Genkyuen, a garden for the Shimoyashiki villa; look as they did when first constructed and are designated National Treasures. The large horse stable, with its walls built in the early modern period, is a particularly rare example of such a structure and is designated a national Important Cultural Property. The inner moat can be circled in a pleasure boat that belonged to the Ii clan; ride it and you will feel like a daimyo (feudal lord) yourself.