Shichishu Castle Site

The hill now occupied by the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art was once the site of Shichishu Castle, completed in 1785 for the Naito family. The castle's name comes from the seven provinces once visible from this hill. After a failed earlier attempt due to flooding, the Naito lord finally received shogunate funding for a modest fortress with a two-story guard tower. That tower was demolished in 1871, but a concrete reconstruction built in 1977 still stands on the original stone foundations. It's a quiet stop with an interesting layered history beneath a working art museum.