Okazaki Castle is well-known as the place where Shogun, TOKUGAWA Ieyasu, was born.
It was in 1543. His farther, MATSUDAIRA Hirotada, was the lord of this area. But, his territory was very small, as it was sandwitched by IMAGAWA to the east and ODA to the west.

Hirotada finally decided to become a part of IMAGAWA Yoshimoto and sent his son, Ieyasu, to IMAGAWA as a hostage. In 1560, IMAGAWA Yoshimoto lost his life in a battle in Okehazama against ODA Nobunaga. Yoshimoto's death freed Ieyasu after twelve years of being hostage and Ieyasu was made a lord of Okazaki Castle.

North portion of the main tower area, "Jibutsudo Bailey", maintains the middle age atmosphere, when Hirotada and Ieyasu were lords of Okazaki Castle.

To the west of the main bailey, "Ubuyu-ido" and "Ena-zuka" are located. "Ubuyu-ido" is a well and the water for the Ieyasu's first bath was drawn from this well. "Ena-zuka" shown in the below picture, is a mound of placenta when Ieyasu was born.

Ieyasu expanded his territory to the east and he moved to Hamamatsu in 1570. After TOYOTOMI Hideyoshi unified the whole country in 1590, Ieyasu was forced to relocate to Edo (currently Tokyo). Hideyoshi relocated his retainers between Nagoya and Edo. TANAKA Yoshimasa became a lord of Okazaki Castle.

He expanded Okazaki Castle well and improved the castle as the most modern citadel in order to give the impression that the era of TOYOTOMI started.

To the east of the main bailey, the East Corner Tower was re-built in its original style. The white walls of the corner tower and mud walls are shining under sun shine.

This view seems to keep the atmosphere of Okazaki Castle in the Edo Age.

Okazaki Castle is also very well-known for beautiful cherry blossoms.
The Otogawa (or Sugogawa) River and the Iga River flow to the south and west sides of Okazaki Castle. Along these two rivers, there are cherry trees. The cherry blossoms bloom at the beginnig of April.

Many people come to the castle to see these cherry blossoms. It is said that Okazaki Castle is one of the best places to enjoy cherry blossoms in Japan.

On the first weekend of April, a Cherry Blossom Festival is held. The parade of Ieyasu and other events are held during the festival. Some enjoy seeing these events and others enjoy drinking Sake under Cherry blossoms.

A couple of years ago, "Yabusame" was demonstrated, shown in the above-right picture. "Yabusame" is the art of shooting arrows on horseback. The demonstration was very impressive.

Ruins of Okazaki Castle are now open for the public as a Castle Park. The main tower is a historical landmark of Okazaki. The Castle Park is a relaxing place for citizens of Okazaki.

How to get there
It is just a 15 minute walk from Higashi-Okazaki Station on the Meitetsu Main Line.
Also, a ten minute walk from Naka-Okazaki Station on the Aichi Loop Line and Okazaki Koenmae Station on the Meitetsu Main Line.

Official English Website: https://travel.okazaki-kanko.jp/en/

Other Historical Sites near by:
Iga-Hachiman Shrine
Daijyuji Temple
Rokusho Shrine