- Culture
- Hyogo
Sasayama Castle Oshoin Palace

The only remaining structure of Sasayama Castle, one of the 100 great castles of Japan
Sasayama Castle was erected in 1609 in Hyogo Prefecture's Tamba-Sasayama, an important transportation hub. As a castle tower was not built in Sasayama Castle, the Oshoin palace built around the same time as the castle served as a center of politics. Only the domain lord was permitted to enter the grand wooden building. While the original building was destroyed by fire in January 1944, it was restored and reconstructed in 2000.
Sasayama Castle Oshoin palace
The grand palace is quite large in scale for a wooden structure, and among existing historic buildings around Japan today, it is comparable to the Ninomaru Palace of Nijo-jo Castle in Kyoto. The palace of Nijo-jo Castle was a first-class building that served as a residence for the Shogun general when visiting Kyoto, so it is telling that Oshoin was exceptional in size and an ancient architectural style for a samurai residence of a feudal lord. The Jodan-no-ma room with the raised floor is the most prestigious room, with a large alcove of 6.9 meters in width, tsukeshoin (a built-in table) on the left and chigai-dana (shelves built into the wall) on the right. A folding screen painting drawn by a painter of the Kano group in the early Edo Period (1603-1868) has been converted into a wall painting to recreate the atmosphere of the time.
Anma Family Samurai Residence Museum
The Anma Family Residence Museum is a samurai residence built after 1830 and was opened to the public as a museum after major renovations in 1994. In the Edo Period, samurai residences were located around the outer moat of Sasayama Castle according to their social ranks. The Anma family was a vassal of the Aoyama family, the lord of the Sasayama Domain. The residence is a standard-scale house of a lower-class samurai in the Sasayama Domain and shows us the life of samurai at the time.
Sasayama City History Museum
The Sasayama City History Museum opened in 1982 after renovating the interior of the Sasayama District Courthouse that was in use from 1870 to 1981. The Sasayama District Courthouse is an important historical building and one of the oldest wooden courthouse buildings in the country. The interior is simple, yet ornate with elaborate designs to give it a stately feel. The museum exhibits various historical relics of Sasayama, such as excavated artifacts from ancient tombs in this region, Tamba-yaki pottery ware and other historical materials that describes medieval Sasayama, as well as works of art from early modern times.
Location
Name | Sasayama Castle Oshoin Palace |
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Website | (In Japanese) http://www.withsasayama.jp/REKIBUN/osyoin_top.htm![]() |
Address | 2-3 Kitashin-machi, Tamba-Sasayama-shi, Hyogo |
Access | From Sasayamaguchi Station on the JR Fukuchiyama Line, take the Shinki Green Bus bound for Sasayama Eigyosho for approximately 15 minutes, then get off at Nikaimachi bus stop and walk for approximately 5 minutes. Approximately 10 minutes' drive from the Tannan Sasayamaguchi IC on the Maizuru-Wakasa Expressway |
Business Hours | 9:00 to 17:00 (Admission until 16:30) |
Closed | Every Monday (If Monday is a public holiday, then closed the following day), December 25 to January 1 of the following year |
Inquiries | TEL: 079-552-4500 |
Admission | Admission for Sasayama Castle Oshoin Palace: Adults: 400 yen; High school and university students: 200 yen; Elementary and junior high school students: 100 yen (Group admission fee applicable for group of 30 or more) Common admission ticket for four facilities (Sasayama Castle Oshoin Palace, Aoyama History Village, Anma Family Samurai Residence Museum, History Museum): Adults: 600 yen; High school and university students: 300 yen; Elementary and junior high school students: 150 yen (Fees may change for special exhibits at the History Museum.) |