Taman Takashima (Suwa)

Takashima Park, in Takashima, Suwa City, Nagano Prefecture, is a roughly 4-hectare municipal park developed on the ruins of Takashima Castle — the seat of the Suwa clan and Suwa domain. Designated a Nagano Prefecture Historic Site, the castle was a flatland fortress built between 1592 and 1598 by Hineno Oribe-no-kami Takayoshi. Originally surrounded by moats fed by Lake Suwa's waters, it was known as «Suwa's Floating Castle» and counted among Japan's three great «lake castles.» The current keep (three stories, three tiers) was reconstructed in 1970 (exterior only); the interior houses a Suwa-domain history museum. About 100 Yoshino cherry trees around the moat bloom in mid-April, and the keep mirrored in the moat with cherry blossoms is one of Suwa's signature spring scenes. Winter brings illumination over the frozen moat, summer the lotus, and autumn the foliage — making the park a year-round photography destination.