Inui Turret
In old Japan, the points of the compass were sometimes expressed using the 12 animals from the Chinese zodiac. The name of this turret consists of the Chinese characters for “dog” and “wild boar,” indicating that it stands in the northwest corner of the Nishidemaru, which is the northwestern part of the inner compound (honmaru). This is a replica dating from 2003. The wall to the south is also a reconstruction, as the original wall was dismantled by the imperial army during its occupation of the castle from 1874 to 1945. In the 2016 earthquake, the stone wall beneath the turret collapsed, leaving it balancing precariously on the corner stones.