Ogaki

Ogaki Castle is an important historic site. The Battle of Sekigahara actually began here before moving west to Sekigahara, where the battle ended. The original castle was destroyed in World War II, so the current castle was reconstructed in 1959. Inside it is a museum with information about the castle and the Battle of Sekigahara.

A museum dedicated to the famous poet Matsuo Basho's journey from Edo (Tokyo) to the Tohoku Region, known as The Narrow Road to the Deep North (Oku no Hosomichi). While Ogaki is obviously not in Tohoku, the museum is here because his journey ended here. There is a 3-D video theater that shows a few different videos throughout the day, and the rest of the museum features exhibits on Basho's travels from the beginning of his journey to the end. There is also a room featuring other historic figures connected to Ogaki.

More commonly known as Oku no Hosomichi Musubi no Chi (奥の細道むすびの地), which means the "endpoint of The Narrow Road to the Deep North", it was Ogaki's port along a canal that connected it to Kuwana. Matsuo Basho took a boat from the port after completing his trip through Tohoku, and a statue of him is located along the canal. The lighthouse was built in the Edo Period. The canal area is known as a scenic spot in the city and is especially popular during the cherry blossom season when the blossoms billow out over the water.

Born in Ogaki, Tadashi Moriya was a well-known traditional Japanese painting (nihonga) artist. The museum features his works with permanent and special exhibits.

Nicknamed "Sunomata Ichiya Castle" (墨俣一夜城), the castle is famous for the tale that it was built in just one night (ichiya). It was indeed built very quickly, but took a couple days rather than a single night. It was not actually a castle with a donjon like you see today. The original site was built as a fortress with wall and towers by Toyotomi Hideyoshi as part of the campaign to overtake Gifu Castle (Inabayama Castle). The modern structure was built in the 1990s as a museum with information about the former castle, a diorama depicting what it looked like and information about famous castle battles in other parts of the country. It's a popular place to visit in the spring when the cherry blossoms bloom.