Tsuyama Castle (Kakuzan Park)

Its buildings are almost all gone, but towering stone walls still show a great Edo-period castle. In spring it is one of Japan's top 100 cherry spots.

A castle 12 years in the making

Tsuyama Castle is a castle site in Tsuyama, in the north of Okayama Prefecture. Mori Tadamasa, the first lord of the Tsuyama domain, spent 12 years building it, finishing in 1616. Tadamasa was the younger brother of Mori Ranmaru, who served the warlord Oda Nobunaga and died in the Honnoji Incident.

It is a hirayamajiro, a castle built on a low hill, and was also called Kakuzan Castle. A five-storey keep once towered over it, but the castle was abolished in the early Meiji era and every building was pulled down. Today the site is Kakuzan Park, and it is a National Historic Site and one of the "100 Fine Castles of Japan".

The stone walls and the rebuilt Bitchu Turret

The highlight is the stone walls that wrap around the hill. Okayama Prefecture's tourism website describes them as reaching about 45 metres high, and looking up from below you get a real sense of the castle's scale even without its buildings.

The site has the Bitchu Yagura, rebuilt in 2005 to mark the castle's 400th anniversary. A yagura (turret) was a building used as a lookout and for storing weapons, and the Bitchu Yagura was the largest in the castle. Inside it is laid with tatami mats and built like a goten (a residence for a feudal lord).

Cherry blossom and seasonal flowers

Kakuzan Park is a famous cherry blossom spot, chosen as one of Japan's "100 Best Cherry Blossom Spots". The Tsuyama Sakura Festival runs from 1 to 15 April, when the park also stays open into the evening.

After the cherries come wisteria and azaleas in May, hydrangeas in June, red spider lilies in mid-September and autumn leaves in November, so each season has its own flowers and scenery.

Getting there

It is about 10 minutes' walk from JR Tsuyama Station. By car it is about 15 minutes from the Tsuyama or Innosho interchanges on the Chugoku Expressway, and you can use the car park at the nearby Tsuyama Tourist Centre (paid during the cherry festival).

There is an admission fee, and opening hours vary with the season and during the cherry festival. The park is closed at the end of the year (29-31 December). Check Tsuyama City's official website for details.

Tips

• Your park ticket also gets you inside the Bitchu Yagura at no extra charge. Take a look at its tatami-floored, palace-like rooms.
• To feel the full power of the stone walls, don't just look down from inside the park; look up at them from outside the castle too.
• It gets very crowded in cherry blossom season, and the car park charges then. It is easier to come by train and walk from Tsuyama Station.

Sources

• 津山城（鶴山公園） - 津山市公式ウェブサイト (opens in a new tab)
• 津山城（鶴山公園）｜岡山観光WEB【公式】 (opens in a new tab)
• 津山城 - Wikipedia (opens in a new tab)

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