Uwajima CastlePhoto: Reggaeman / CC BY-SA 3.0
Todo Takatora, the castle-builder, laid Uwajima Castle out between 1596 and 1601 as an irregular pentagon.
- Getting there
- Taxi from Sakashitazu No. 2 Wharf, 2.3 km, about 10 min and ¥1,100 each way (our estimate); about 15 min on foot from the tender pier
Checked · Researched, not yet visited · times from official timetables and our estimates · Takumi Yamada
One of the 12 castle keeps in Japan that survive from the Edo period: three storeys of white plaster, rebuilt by the second Date lord in the 1660s on a hill first fortified by Todo Takatora. Stone steps climb the 73 m hill through old forest from the north or the south gate, and the tourism association’s standard loop takes 1–1.5 hours. Keep 09:00–17:00 (to 16:00 November–February), every day, adult ¥200, cash only.
- Number 1 of ten on our list for Uwajima.
- On a 4–6h ashore call our verdict is "Yes" — add Tensha-en, 8 minutes below the south gate, and lunch at Kisaiya Hiroba.
- Keep 09:00–17:00 — to 16:00 from November to February. The hill’s gates open at 06:00 and close at 18:30 (17:00 in winter). No closing days.
- 2 hr 30 min door to door needs a 4.5-hour call: a 2–3 hour stop cannot hold it. Pick something closer instead.
Things worth knowing
- Bring coins: the keep takes cash only.
- The steps are uneven stone; wear shoes with grip, and allow more time after rain.
- Go up one side and down the other: north for the station and the market, south for Tensha-en.
Uwajima Castle and your ship
Both pins on one map, so the distance is a fact rather than a feeling.
Where the 2 hr 30 min goes
The hour before all-aboard is not in this bar; it is already set aside. The minutes are our estimates from timetables and maps, not timed on the ground.
If your ship is late, cut the 2 hr 10 min in the middle. Never cut the hour at the end.
Questions
How do I get from the cruise ship to Uwajima Castle?
From Sakashitazu No. 2 Wharf by taxi: 2.3 km, about 10 minutes and ¥1,100 on Ehime’s tariff from 19 December 2025, by our estimate, or 28–32 minutes on foot. From the tender pier it is a 15-minute walk. No shuttle is published.
How much is Uwajima Castle?
Adult ¥200 for the keep, cash only; 65 and over ¥160; high-school age and under free. The hill itself is free. A ticket with Tensha-en and the Date Museum is ¥700; the museum is closed from 29 March 2027.
Routes that already include it
Finished days timed from official timetables and our estimates, with this stop in them.
The castle and Tensha-enNeeds a 4.5-hour call · ~2.5h door to doorA ship alongside on any call of 4.5 hours or more, between 08:30 and 16:30. From the tender pier walk instead: about 15 minutes to the castle
Garden, castle, pearls and tai-meshiNeeds a 6-hour call · ~4h door to doorA ship alongside from 08:00 or earlier that stays past 14:00: off at 08:30, back by 12:30. Kadoya serves lunch 11:00–14:00
Uchiko by limited expressNeeds a 9-hour call · ~7h door to doorA call of about 07:00–17:00 or longer: off at 07:30, back about 14:25, an hour before a 15:30 gangway time. Not a morning or an afternoon half-dayA wet day: Kisaiya Hiroba, pearls and tai-meshiA wet day · ~2.5h door to doorRain on any call that covers lunch. The castle’s steps and the garden are in the open; the market, the pearl hall and the restaurants are notWhat to put beside it
Each of these still lands you back aboard with the hour to spare.
