Hikone Castle

Hikone is a small town on the shores of Lake Biwa. It's easily reached by train taking the JR Tokaido Line. This small and quiet town is no different to many others if it were not for having one of the 4 castles in Japan considered a national treasure. Finished in 1622, it took 20 years to build. The daimyo who occupied it was the Ii family and they did until the feudal era ended in 1868. Today the castle is still the very picture of what it was in its heyday, in the Japanese feudal era. The past is still very much alive in that magical place. You can visit inside the castle where you'll see several rooms and you can get to the highest point where you have magnificent views of the lake, gardens and Hikone own.

Hikone is bit isolated from other sights so there aren't many overseas visitors and travelers.

Also, the castle is smaller than other famous castles like Himeji castle. However, Hikone Castle is more fun because there are less visitors and it's a very nice castle with some Japanese gardens inside the castle and views of Biwa Lake.