Guard Rooms
Inuyama Castle has two special guard rooms (tsuke yagura) on the first floor of the keep. From the exterior, they blend into the castle’s design, as they are two of the corners of the first floor that sits atop the five-meter-high stone foundation. From inside, windows offer a broad view of the surrounding area so that guards can quickly discover advancing foes. The guard room to the southeast is an extension that projects beyond the original corner of the keep’s facade and directly overlooks the basement entrance. This position would allow the castle’s defenders to strike at would-be intruders from the side, at a higher elevation than the entrance. The other room is on the northwest corner, and includes the stone drop (ishiotoshi) in its design. The Nobi Earthquake of 1891 destroyed the original guard rooms, but they were later restored to their original state.