Hikone Castle Museum

A Japanese National Treasure for sure. It was enjoyable to explore the castle grounds and go into the watch tower gates, unfortunately we were not allowed to go into the actual castle because of restoration efforts. It was not busy and we were able to take our time exploring.

It was a really nice trip to Hikone. It took me and my friend about 1 h to get there, and it was pouring, but still, the views, the museum, and the castle were breathtaking. If you come to Kyoto, save a day to visit Hikone 😉

Very good museum focussed many on the Edo period. From this period there is a range of swords, calligraphy, art, armour, theatre masks and costumes, weapons and pottery. There is a recreation of the local leaders residence spanning over a dozen rooms. Most descriptions are in Japanese with some simple titles in English. There is free wifi and a free app that gives good free descriptions in many languages including English. I thought is was one of the better museums for the period. Discounted if you. It with the castle ticket which is directly next door.

Wasn’t sure if it would be worth the extra time and money to visit the museum, but glad I did. Great pieces including masks, art, kimonos, and samurai armour. However, the highlight was the wonderfully gorgeous traditional garden that brought tears to my eyes. Incredibly beautiful. Ticket for museum, castle and gardens is ¥1,200 at the time of writing. Well worth it.

I bought a ¥1,200 set ticket for Hikone Castle, Hikone Museum, and Genkyuen. A nice place if you have interest in historical place and museum, worth to visit. The museum displays many of the Ii family's armor, letters, and other collections, well organized.