The Land of Timeless History Visit Ena Iwamura’s Mountain Castle Ruins, Old Town, and Rural Scenery

Iwamura Castle Town

• The 1.3 kilo meters street in the Iwamura Castle Town has old wooden houses along it. Some of them were built in mid-Edo era (18th century) and have been preserved to this day. The townscape that locals have carefully preserved is designated as an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings of the country.

  The charm of Iwamura Castle Town is that people still live in the historic town. Historical houses are used for new stores or guest houses. If you stroll the town, you will see stores of their specialties, such as castella, or the local food ‘Gohei-mochi’, and sake brewers.

  Also, various programs are offered for experience of making dyed goods and traditional meals, or historic tour led by local guides. By joining them, you will learn how the people of Ena Iwamura lived well.

Iwamura Castle Ruins

• Iwamura Castle, one of Japanese major three mountain castles, was a castle on a mountain located at the highest altitude spot (717 meters) as a castle that existed in Edo period. Because the location often has fog, it is also called the ‘Fog Castle’.

  It has a long history and was built in 1185. With different owners over the years, it lasted for about 700 years. A castle with this long history is very rare even in Japan.

  Also, while owners of Japanese castle are normally men, Iwamura castle had a female owner as well. The story of this very beautiful, intelligent and beloved female owner is still handed down in the area, and woven into the local culture.

  The top highlight of Iwamura castle is its stone walls. Because it was built on a mountain, the stone walls with many layers look surprisingly powerful.

  It is not easy to climb the Iwamura castle area with sharp curves and slopes. However, this is part of knowledge of people 800 years ago to protect the castle. Please climb imagining Japanese samurai.

Japan’s Most Magnificent Rural Scenery

• Tomida district, which is about 3 kilo meters away from castle town area, has attractive peacefulness of Japanese traditional rural scenery. Its beauty is called the ‘Japan’s Most Magnificent Rural Scenery’.

  From the observation deck, you can see the countryside surrounded by mountains. Within the large farming area, you can see scattered farm houses with thatched roofs or tile roofs, and warehouses with white walls. There used to be many rural sceneries like Tomida district all over Japan, but there are fewer now and it is a very valuable scenery.

  Another charm of the farm village is the scenery that changes over seasons, with ears of rice that were green in spring and summer turning gold in fall. You may be able to see a view covered by snow. The scenery is still protected with local children manually planting and harvesting rice in spring and fall.

  If you would like to closely feel the rural scenery, we recommend going cycling with a rental cycle from Iwamura Castle Town.