* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Odawara Castle Keep Museum
小田原城天守閣
Overview
Odawara Castle Keep Museum is a castle museum facility in Odawara City, Kanagawa Prefecture. It houses and displays the history, culture, and armor of Odawara Castle, the base that the Later Hōjō clan (Hōjō Sōun, Ujitsuna, Ujiyasu, Ujimasa, and Ujinao) held for a century. The Later Hōjō clan held the greatest power in medieval Kantō. The current keep was rebuilt in 1960 (Shōwa 35) as a reinforced-concrete building that recreates its exterior, but its interior is a full-scale museum exhibition space with themed displays on each floor, making it one of the leading historical tourist facilities in Kantō and a draw for many visitors.
From the perspective of swords and armor, smiths associated with Odawara Sōshū attract attention. In the Muromachi and Sengoku periods, the Odawara Hōjō clan patronized smiths of the Sōshū tradition. Hōjō Ujitsuna had Tsunahiro, Tsunaie, and Yasukuni forge swords, which were dedicated at Tsurugaoka Hachimangū. Works by the Yasukuni and Yasuharu line, who forged swords in the castle town of Odawara, are called “Odawara Sōshū.” The Sōshū tradition is one of the most highly regarded schools in the history of Japanese swords, with Masamune of the Kamakura period at its apex. The interior of the keep also displays materials such as armor, swords, pictorial maps, and ancient documents.
On the second floor of the keep, the footsteps of the Odawara Hōjō clan in the Sengoku period are introduced. Together with the historical context of Odawara Castle, known as the strongest defensive castle of the Sengoku era, this makes for rich, comprehensive exhibits on samurai culture. The Tokiwagi Gate SAMURAI Hall, adjacent to the keep, also offers hands-on exhibits specializing in armor and swords. By combining these with the immersive samurai culture experience of the projection mapping “Flower-Felling Armor (花伐つ鎧),” visitors can fully enjoy the whole Odawara Castle Ruins Park as one major samurai culture complex.
About 90 minutes by train from Tōkyō and Shinjuku, Odawara Castle also lies on the sightseeing route to Hakone and Atami. It is very popular as one of the most accessible castle and sword tourist destinations in Kantō for people in the Greater Tokyo area.
Highlights
- Smiths associated with Odawara Sōshū — the regional spread of the Sōshū tradition, the lineage succeeding Masamune, which the Later Hōjō clan patronized, including Hōjō Ujitsuna having Tsunahiro, Tsunaie, and Yasukuni forge swords
- Later Hōjō exhibits and armor and swords — the second floor of the keep presents the footsteps of the Odawara Hōjō clan in the Sengoku period, and armor and swords are also displayed inside the keep and at the SAMURAI Hall
- Partnership with the Tokiwagi Gate SAMURAI Hall — enjoy hands-on exhibits of armor and swords on both fronts, at the keep and the SAMURAI Hall. Immerse yourself in samurai culture with the projection mapping “Flower-Felling Armor (花伐つ鎧)”
- Access from the Greater Tokyo area — about 90 minutes from Tōkyō and Shinjuku, a castle museum located at the starting point for sightseeing in Hakone
- Historic remains of the Odawara Sōgamae (総構) — a spatial experience of an enclosure around the entire castle town, Japan's largest-scale of its kind. You can grasp the whole Odawara Castle Ruins Park as a samurai city
* Opening hours and exhibitions are subject to change. Please check the official website before visiting.