Nagoya Castle

Completed in 1612 under Tokugawa Ieyasu's direction, and its pair of golden kinshachi dolphin ornaments on the main tower roof remain the city's most recognizable symbol. The concrete main keep rebuilt in 1959 holds museum exhibits on Edo-period life. The more impressive ongoing project is the Honmaru Palace reconstruction, where craftspeople are rebuilding the original reception halls using traditional materials and techniques. The completed rooms reveal gold-leaf fusuma panel paintings in extraordinary detail. The castle grounds are one of Nagoya's top cherry blossom spots each spring, and the deep moats and spacious lawns make the setting genuinely pleasant outside of any single season.