Odawara: Odawara Castle and Town Guided Discovery Tour Day Tours

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Odawara Castle in the center of Odawara was the residence of the Hojo clan, the princes who dominated the Kanto region during the Warring States Period. Built in 1495, Odawara Castle has served as the political center of the southern Kanto region for nearly a hundred years. In 1590, Toyotomi Hideyoshi obtained the right to rule over most of Japan and began to actively attack the unwilling Hojo clan (known as the Odawara Conquest). His relationship with Odawara Castle has since ended. After entering the Edo period of the Tokugawa shogunate, Odawara Castle was located between Tokyo, Hakone, and the Izu Peninsula. It was an important road between Edo and Kyoto, and its strategic position was very important. Tokugawa Ieyasu appointed his confidant, Tadashi Okubo, as the castle lord to protect the safety of the Edo area. After Okubo Tadashi took office, he built many more castles and strengthened protective measures. The castle that you see now was restored in 1960. The 60-meter-high castle tower overlooks the Boso Peninsula and the Izu Peninsula. There are permanent exhibitions inside the castle tower, displaying various materials related to the history of Odawara.