Confidence
| Field | Confidence | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Castle name | 99% | Center calligraphy clearly reads 名古屋城; the central red stamp is the unmistakable 三葉葵 (mitsuba-aoi / three-leaf hollyhock) Tokugawa family crest, matching the documented Nagoya Castle gojōin design exactly. |
| Date | 97% | Left date column reads cleanly: 令和七年 四月七日 = 7 April 2025. |
Identification
- Name (Japanese): 名古屋城
- Name (Romanized): Nagoya-jō (Nagoya Castle)
- Stamp type: 御城印 (gojōin / castle stamp)
- Issuance point: Castle grounds gift shop (300 yen)
- Location: Naka Ward, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture
- Date received: 令和七年四月七日 = 7 April 2025
Reading the gojōin
| Element | Reading | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 特別史蹟 | Tokubetsu Shiseki — "Special Historic Site" (the highest national heritage designation under the Cultural Properties Protection Law) | Right column, brush |
| 名古屋城 | Nagoya-jō (Nagoya Castle) | Center, large brush |
| 三葉葵 / mitsuba-aoi | Three-leaf hollyhock — Tokugawa family crest | Center, large red circular stamp |
| 令和七年四月七日 | 7 April 2025 | Left column, brush |
The cherry-blossom timing (April 7) lines up with Nagoya's hanami (cherry-blossom viewing) peak, which is typically the last week of March through the first week or two of April. Nagoya Castle is one of the city's most popular hanami spots, with 1,000+ cherry trees on the grounds.
What "特別史蹟" means
Japan's heritage classification has three tiers under the Cultural Properties Protection Law:
- 史跡 (Shiseki) — Historic Site (national-level heritage)
- 名勝 (Meishō) — Place of Scenic Beauty
- 特別史蹟 (Tokubetsu Shiseki) — Special Historic Site, reserved for sites of "particularly high value." Only 63 sites in all of Japan hold this top designation.
Nagoya Castle was first designated 史跡 in 1932 and elevated to 特別史蹟 in 1952. Stamping this on the gojōin emphasizes the castle's first-tier heritage status alongside places like the Imperial Palace, Hiroshima's Atomic Bomb Dome (well, that's actually a different category), Itsukushima Shrine, and Heijō-kyō ruins.
Castles holding 特別史蹟 status include Nagoya Castle, Himeji Castle, Edo Castle (the Imperial Palace grounds), and Kanazawa Castle.
Why the Tokugawa hollyhock crest
Nagoya Castle was built (1610–1619) by Tokugawa Ieyasu for his ninth son Tokugawa Yoshinao, the founder of the Owari Tokugawa branch (尾張徳川家) — the senior of the Gosanke (御三家), the three Tokugawa cadet branches eligible to provide a shogun if the main line failed.
The 三葉葵 (mitsuba-aoi) crest is the formal identifier of the Tokugawa shogunal house. It came from the Matsudaira family — Tokugawa Ieyasu's birth family — whose ancestors had ties to the Kamo Shrine in Mikawa Province, a shrine that uses hollyhock leaves in its sacred Aoi Matsuri festival. The plant was thus considered sacred by the Matsudaira-Tokugawa lineage and adopted as their family crest.
So the central red stamp on this gojōin is a direct visual statement that this is a Tokugawa castle, not a Toyotomi or Oda one — distinguishing it from Osaka Castle (Toyotomi paulownia) or Azuchi Castle (Oda family devices).
About Nagoya Castle
Nagoya Castle was constructed by Tokugawa Ieyasu (1610–1619) as part of the tenka-bushin (天下普請) — a nationwide construction order under which Ieyasu compelled defeated daimyo to bear the cost and labor of building Tokugawa strongholds. It became the seat of the Owari Tokugawa branch through the entire Edo period (1615–1868).
Key facts
- The original main keep (1612) stood as one of Japan's largest castle keeps for over 300 years and was designated Japan's first National Treasure castle in 1930.
- Bombed and destroyed on 14 May 1945 during the WWII Nagoya air raids — one of Japan's greatest cultural losses.
- The current keep is a 1959 ferro-concrete reconstruction, similar in approach to Osaka Castle's 1931 reconstruction. It is currently closed to the public as of 2018 due to seismic safety issues.
- The Hommaru Goten (本丸御殿) — the lord's residential palace beside the keep — was destroyed in the same air raid but has been completely rebuilt in traditional wood (2009–2018) using original drawings, photographs, and surviving fragments. This is now the centerpiece of the visitor experience and is one of the most ambitious historic-architecture reconstructions in modern Japan.
- The Golden Shachihoko (金鯱) — the famous gold-leafed dolphin-fish ornaments on the rooftop ridges — are the castle's enduring symbol and have featured on the national news whenever they've been removed for restoration.
Why visitors get this gojōin
The Nagoya Castle gojōin has been sold since summer 2017 for 300 yen at the castle grounds shop. The design has been stable: large 名古屋城 calligraphy, mitsuba-aoi center stamp, 特別史蹟 marker, hand-written Reiwa date. There are also occasional limited variants — a 2023 Doko Iku Ieyasu NHK drama tie-in changed the aoi crest from red to purple.
The castle is also a Japan 100 Famous Castles (日本100名城) stamp rally point — different program, separate stamp book. The gojōin and the 100-castle stamp are issued as separate items.