Kiyosu Castle

Nobunaga moved into Kiyosu in 1555, and it was from here that he marched out to beat Imagawa Yoshimoto at Okehazama in 1560. After the Honno-ji Incident in 1582 his generals met in this castle to settle who would inherit, the meeting known as the Kiyosu Conference. The town's turn as a regional capital ended in 1610, when Tokugawa Ieyasu ordered the castle abandoned and moved its buildings, temples and townspeople to the new Nagoya Castle. The four-storey keep standing now dates from 1989 and sits by the Gojo River; the original stood across the water, where Kiyosu Kojo Ruins Park is today. Inside are exhibits on Nobunaga and the Kiyosu years, armour you can try on, and a short paper-theatre retelling of the Kiyosu Conference at 10:00 and 13:00 on weekends and holidays. The fourth floor looks out over the flat Nobi Plain, with coin binoculars for 100 yen. It is a small castle and an hour covers it. The walk from JR Kiyosu or Meitetsu Shin-Kiyosu Station is about 15 minutes, and parking is free.