Gifu Castle

Gifu Castle (Gifu-jo) was built by Lord Nikaido, who governed this region back at the beginning of the 13th century. In the 16th century, the daimyo Saito Dosan became the governor, and he carried out repairs to the castle and built the donjon. The Saito family was subsequently overthrown by Oda Nobunaga, and its name was changed to Gifu Castle after Nobunaga moved in. It was destroyed by fire in 1943 in WWII. The existing four-tiered donjon was built in 1956. It houses the local museum and the top floor is an observatory. The site of the rice storehouse and the stone walls remind us of how the place would have looked when the castle was built.