Luxury meets history in US$8,700-a-night stay at a Japanese castle 400 years old
Be lord (and lady) of 400-year-old Fukuyama Castle in western Japan by booking a stay in its moon-viewing turret; meals, bathhouse included
A western Japan city has begun offering overnight stays at Fukuyama Castle, a site dating back 400 years, as regional economies seek ways to attract wealthy visitors amid the country’s tourism boom.
The initiative, which received its first guests in October, offers visitors the chance to be lord of the castle for a day.
Plans start from 1.32 million yen (US$8,700) a night for two people and include a stay in a rebuilt moon-viewing turret, a night lounge experience in the castle keep, use of a bathhouse and luxurious meals.
As part of the experience, visitors receive an exclusive tour of the Fushimi Yagura turret, a nationally designated important cultural property. Usually closed to the public, this wooden structure is one of the oldest Japanese castle turrets.
The turret, believed to have been relocated from the ill-fated Fushimi Castle in Kyoto when Fukuyama Castle was built in 1622, survived a wartime bombing of Fukuyama in Hiroshima prefecture in August 1945, while the keep and some other structures burned down and were rebuilt in 1966.
