TokyoStreetView, previously introduced in this blog, has this great video of the Ozu Castle. It’s really beautiful, and a terrific chance for you to come and see a real Japanese castle at your own pace, without the crowds.
Of course it is great to see the castles in Osaka and Himeji, but sometimes it is simply better to be somewhere where the crowds aren’t.
Here is the write up that TokyoStreetView has on the castle (in English):
Ozu Castle, also known as Jizogatake Castle, was originally constructed in 1331 by Utsunomiya Toyofusa. However, the structure as represented now was built sometime between 1585 ~ 1617. During this period, the castle was controlled by a number of lords. In 1888 the keep was destroyed by a fire, though the two towers or Yagura, that were connected by corridors to the keep were saved. What remained of the castle survived World War II, even though the surrounding castle town was firebombed. In 2004 the keep was re-constructed, along with the corridors that connected the keep to the yagura.