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Shiroishi Castle

historyOff the trail — and worth it

A three-storey turret standing on a hill in the middle of a small castle town in southern Miyagi. It was pulled down after the end of the shogunate and later put back in timber, with traditional joinery and no reinforcing metal brackets.

FromSendai Station
~65 minJR local line, then a walk
Get off atShiroishi Station (JR Tohoku Main Line)
On foot
Shiroishi Castle

Directions ↗

The sweet spot

Shiroishi is signposted on every Miyagi tourist map, so it is not a secret. It stays quiet because most travellers pass through on the shinkansen at Shiroishi-Zao, a station out in the fields on the far side of town, and carry on to Zao or Sendai without ever walking into the castle town.

Where it is

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What to look for — in walking order

Ote Ninomon gatethe outer of the two restored gates, white plaster and dark timber over a stone base
Ote Ichinomon gatethe inner gate, the last thing between the street and the main enclosure
The three-storey turret16.7 metres from the top of the stone wall, among the largest wooden reconstructions built since the war
Shiroishi Castle History Museuman exhibition building at the foot of the hill, on the castle and the Katakura family
The Katakura retainers' samurai residencea former retainer's house on a stream below the hill, a prefecturally designated property

How to actually get there

Sendai Station → Shiroishi Station (JR Tohoku Main Line, 45 to 50 minutes).
Shiroishi Station → the foot of the castle hill (walk west along the main street).
Go up through the two restored gates to the turret, and take the internal stairs to the top floor.
Come down to the history museum at the foot of the hill, then cross to the samurai residence by the stream.

JR Tohoku Main Line from Sendai: Sendai Station →(JR Tohoku Main Line, 45 to 50 minutes)→ Shiroishi Station, then a walk west to the castle hill. The prefectural tourism federation gives that walk as 10 minutes and the castle's own site as 15; it is a flat, straightforward street either way.
Back to Shiroishi Station: Walk back east along the same street and take the Tohoku Main Line north to Sendai. Local services are not frequent outside the commuter peaks, so read the departure board when you arrive rather than at the end of the day.

Directions from my location (Google Maps) ↗

About the place

Shiroishi sits in a basin in southern Miyagi with the Zao range to the west. In the Edo period the Oshu highway ran north and south through the town below, towards Sendai one way and Fukushima the other. The castle stands on a low hill in the middle of that town, now the grounds of Masuoka Park. What you climb to is a turret rather than a keep: as a branch castle of the Sendai domain it could not carry the name of a keep, so it was called simply the great turret. The gates, the plaster walls and the turret were all put back in timber, but the stone base beneath them is the surviving original.

How to enjoy it

Arriving at nine, when the turret opens, gives you the building before the day fills up. Inside, the stairs are steep and the timber frame is left exposed, so the climb through the structure is as much the point as the view from the top floor. The museum at the foot of the hill and the samurai house by the stream are close enough to add to the same visit.

Background & history

Shiroishi guarded the road between Sendai and the provinces to the south. Katakura Kagetsuna, one of Date Masamune's closest retainers, was installed here in 1602, and his family held the castle for more than 260 years. When the shogunate ordered each domain down to a single castle in 1615, Sendai was allowed to keep Shiroishi alongside its own castle, a rare exemption. The castle was sold off and demolished in 1874 and the hill became a public park. The turret and the two main gates were rebuilt in wood in 1995.

Before you go

Cash: Admission is charged for the turret, and separately for the history museum at the foot of the hill and for the samurai residence; a combined ticket covers all three. Shiroishi Station takes IC cards such as Suica as well as cash.
Good to know: The turret opens at nine in the morning and closes at five from April to October and at four from November to March, with last entry half an hour before closing. Masuoka Park around it is open ground, so the gates, the walls and the stone base can be seen outside those hours.
Another way: From Sendai the Tohoku Shinkansen reaches Shiroishi-Zao Station in about 15 minutes by the city's travel guide, but the station stands out in the fields, and the castle's own site gives the taxi from there as about 5 minutes. By car it is about 10 minutes from the Shiroishi interchange on the Tohoku Expressway. Bicycles can be hired at the stations and at the castle.
After you get off: Leave Shiroishi Station on the castle side and follow the main street west towards the hill; the turret shows above the rooftops for most of the way. The street ends at the two restored gates, and the path up to the turret runs through them.