Echizen Ono Castle

On the right early mornings from autumn to spring, only the keep floats above a sea of cloud: the "castle in the sky". From the top you see the town and Ono Basin below.

A hilltop castle built by a retainer of Oda Nobunaga

Echizen Ono Castle stands on the top of Mount Kameyama, a small hill in the centre of Ono, Fukui Prefecture. According to Ono City, after Oda Nobunaga had Ono district brought under control, his retainer Kanamori Nagachika built a castle on Kameyama and began laying out a castle town at the eastern foot of the hill. From 1682 the Doi family held the castle until the domains were abolished after the Meiji Restoration.

In the Edo period the castle burned several times in great fires in the town, and in 1775 the honmaru (the central part of the castle) was destroyed too, but it was rebuilt in 1795. In the Meiji era the buildings were pulled down, leaving only the stone walls. The present tenshu (keep, the tall building that is the symbol of a castle) was built in 1968 with a donation from a descendant of one of the domain's former samurai families, based on what it was thought to have looked like.

Displays in the keep and walls of natural stone

The inside of the keep is a museum, displaying items connected with the Doi family, who were lords of the castle for generations. From the keep on the hilltop you can look down over the castle town below.

The stone walls, which survive from the Edo period, were built using a method called nozurazumi, in which natural stones are stacked more or less as they are, and they are a designated cultural property of Fukui Prefecture. The castle is also one of Japan's "100 Fine Castles".

How to see the "castle in the sky"

Echizen Ono Castle is called the "castle in the sky" because the Ono Basin is sometimes wrapped in unkai (a sea of cloud: cloud or mist that spreads out like an ocean when seen from above), and only the castle on the summit seems to float above it. According to the Echizen Ono tourist guide, you can see it from October to April, with November the best bet. It appears from dawn until about 9am, when the conditions line up: high humidity the day before, a big difference between day and night temperatures, and little wind. It can be seen on only about 10 days a year.

To see the castle floating on the clouds, the recommended place is not the castle itself but the observation point at the Inuyama Castle ruins, on the hill opposite to the north-west.

Getting there and when it is open

It is about a 20-minute walk from JR Echizen-Ono Station to the start of the trail, and then about 20 minutes uphill from the trailhead to the keep. By car it is about 10 minutes from Ono IC (interchange) on the Chubu Jukan Expressway to the trailhead.

The keep is closed over the winter (December to March). Depending on the snow, it sometimes opens specially in late March. Check opening hours and prices on Ono City's official website.

Tips

• You walk up a mountain path to reach the keep. Wear comfortable shoes.
• The sea of cloud can also appear during the winter closure. Even if you cannot go into the castle, you can still see it from the observation point at the Inuyama Castle ruins.
• At the eastern foot of the hill lies the castle town that Kanamori Nagachika began to build. Take a walk around it as well as the castle.

Sources

• 越前大野城 施設紹介｜大野市公式ウェブサイト (opens in a new tab)
• 奇跡の光景！絶対見たい天空の城 越前大野城｜越前おおの観光ガイド (opens in a new tab)
• 越前大野城｜ふくいドットコム（福井県観光連盟） (opens in a new tab)

Updated 30 September 2026. Opening hours and prices change, so check the official site before you go.