In the middle of the city, the ruins of Ohgaki Castle are located.

In the Edo Age, Ohgaki Castle had the main bailey and the second bailey, connected north and south in the center, surrounded by multi-layered baileys. Today, only the main bailey remains. The plaza, west of the main bailey, is the former site of the inner moat and the third bailey. There are two shrines in the west plaza.

After visiting Ogaki Castle, I headed to the east side of the castle. There is an artesian well at the corner of in the site of the second bailey of Ohgaki Castle, named "Ohte Ikoi-no-Izumi". Ohgaki is known as "the city of water", thanks to the large number of artesian wells within the city.

If you walk from "Ohte Ikoi-no-Izumi" to the east, you will come to the site of "Higashi Ohte-Mon Gate", the east main gate of Ohgaki Castle.

A small horse statue commemorates the former location of the Ohte-Mon Gate.

Just east of the site of Ohte-Mon Gate was a rice cracker shop, shown in the below left picture. The location of the rice cracker shop used to be the "Wakihonjin", the second main Japanese-style Hotel of Ohgaki Post Town in the Edo Age.

The above right picture shows the site of the wholesale's office, located approximately one hundred meter south from the second main Japanese-style Hotel. In the Edo Age, each post town had to hire Laborers and horses to transport official cargo and passengers to the next post town. The wholesale's office was responsible for this task.

From the site of the wholesale's office, I walked to the west and arrive at the site of "Honjin", the main Japanese styled Hotel in Ohgaki post town. Emperor Meiji stayed at this place in 1811.

Further to the west, I saw this cute doll in front of a Japanese sweet shop.

Ohgaki is well-known for its Japanese sweets, especially "Mizu-Manju", sweet bean jelly, made with clean spring water. There are many Japanese sweet shops in the city.

About hundred meters west of the Japanese sweets shop, the Suimon River flows north and south. Walking to the south along the Suimon River, you will find the remains of Funamachi Port. This was the Suimon River's port, and during the Edo Age, it was an important hub for the movement of goods and people between Ise, the present-day the northern part of Mie Prefecture, and Ohgaki.

The tower-like building standing on the site of Funamachi Port is Sumiyoshi Lighthouse. It was built during the Genroku period (1688-1704) in the Edo Age, as a signpost for Funamachi Port and a landmark at night. A riverboat float on the Suimon River next to Sumiyoshi Lighthouse, recreating the scene from that time.

MATSUO Basho was a well-known "haiku" poet. In 1689, he traveled on foot 2,400 km from Edo, present-day Tokyo, heading north along the Ohu Kaido road, passing through Miyagi and Yamagata and then south along the Sea of ​​Japan coast, from Yamagata through Niigata and Hokuriku to Ohgaki City in Gifu Prefecture.

He wrote a travelogue of this journey, titled "Oku no Hosomichi," which was published posthumously in 1702. The work contains many haiku poems. Funamachi Port is the final stop on Basho's "Oku no Hosomichi."

From the site of Funamachi Port, I headed north along the Suimon River. I saw a person floating down the river in a large washbasin.

Every spring, Ohgaki holds an event where people float down the river in washbasins. Further upstream along the Suimon River about a ten-minute walk, you will arrive at Entsuji Temple.

Entsuji Temple was founded by TODA Ujikane in 1635, when he was moved from Amagasaki to Ohgaki. The main gate of the temple was rebuilt in Tempo Period (1830 - 1844).

Entsuji Temple was the family temple of the Toda clan, who was the feudal domain lords of Ohgaki Domain. The graves of eleven generations of Toda clan members, from TODA Ujikane, the first TODA clan member of the feudal lord of Ohgaki Domain in 1635, to the final TODA clan lords of the domain at the end of the Edo Age, are located here.

As the sun was already setting, the mausoleum of TODA clan's graves was quiet and solemn.

Beautiful Japanese apricot were in bloom within the grounds. My stroll around Ohgaki was also fulfilling, with plenty to see.

How to get there
From Tokyo and Osaka, take a "Nozomi", Tokaido Shinkansen, to Nagoya. Change to a train on the JR Tokaido Line for Ogaki. Downtown Ohgaki is located approximately seven hundred meters to the south. It will take you ten minutes on foot.

Other Historical Sites near by:
Ruins of Gifu Castle
Ruins of Ibi Castle
Ruins of Ohgaki Castle
Sekigahara Battlefield
Yoro Fall