Japan castles face nationwide admission price hike
Sign up now: Get insights on Asia's fast-moving developments
Matsumoto Castle in Nagano Prefecture plans to raise the adult ticket price from 700 yen to 1,300 yen.
PHOTO: BERITA HARIAN
NAGANO – The city of Matsumoto in Nagano prefecture plans to raise the adult admission price for national treasure Matsumoto Castle to 1,200 yen (S$11) for a digital ticket and 1,300 yen for a physical ticket in April 2025.
This is the first ticket price increase since 2020, when the price was raised to the current price of 700 yen. Revenue from the tickets will be spent on preparing for natural disasters and other work on the castle, according to the municipal government.
The adult admission price for Osaka Castle will also be increased to 1,200 yen in spring 2025, up from 600 yen.
Additionally, admission prices for other castles across the country have been, or could soon be, increased.
Currently, both digital and physical tickets for Matsumoto Castle cost 700 yen for high school students and adults. Digital tickets allow visitors to choose a specific date and time to enter the castle keep and are sold on the city’s website.
In the future, the Matsumoto municipal government plans to abolish paper tickets that require staff to sell and manage them. That is why the digital tickets will be made 100 yen cheaper to encourage their use. For elementary and junior high school students, both digital and paper tickets will see a price rise from 300 yen to 400 yen.
The municipal government decided to increase ticket prices to secure the more than 3.6 billion yen it needs for a multi-year castle improvement project starting this fiscal year, which includes making the keep quake-resistant and restoring the castle’s outer moat.
As for other castles registered as national treasures, the adult tickets for Hikone Castle in Hikone, Shiga prefecture, will be raised from 800 yen to 1,000 yen in October.
The ticket price for Himeji Castle in Himeji, Hyogo prefecture, is currently 1,000 yen per adult, but the city is considering raising the price by April 2026.
Tickets for Inuyama Castle in Inuyama, Aichi prefecture, cost 550 yen, while those for Matsue Castle in Matsue cost 680 yen per adult. Both cities are reportedly considering increasing their prices.
According to the municipal government, 897,406 people visited Matsumoto Castle in fiscal year 2023. The number of foreign visitors reached a record high of 161,884 and revenue from tickets hit a record high of 511.22 million yen. THE JAPAN NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
