Hirosaki Castle in the Snow, Before and After Sunset

We hopped off the Resort Shirakami at Hirosaki Station at 2:26pm, dropped our bags at the hotel, and walked straight to Hirosaki Park. The sun sets a little after 4pm in January, so we had about an hour of daylight to find the castle. Spoiler: we stayed way after dark.

Hirosaki Castle is one of the twelve original castles in Japan, the ones whose keeps survive from the Edo period, and collecting them is kinda our thing. The castle was the seat of the Tsugaru clan. The original five-storey keep burned down after a lightning strike in 1627, and the three-storey keep you see today was built in 1810.

Hirosaki Park is one of the most famous cherry blossom spots in Japan. In January, there are no blossoms of course, just snow sitting on every single branch, and moats so still they look like mirrors.

The paths were packed snow the whole way. The shrubs are all wrapped up for winter too, so the snow doesn’t break their branches.

The way in to the castle crosses red bridges over the inner moats. With all that white around, they were the brightest thing in the park, so naturally we did a full photoshoot on them.

Here’s the funny part. When we visited, the keep was not where it was supposed to be! In 2015, the whole keep was moved about 70 metres into the castle grounds, so the stone wall under it could be repaired. That’s why in our photos it sits on flat ground behind a wooden fence, instead of on top of its wall over the moat.

In August 2026, after the wall was finally done, they pulled it back into place. So these photos show a view nobody gets to see anymore.

We got there just before sunset, and the light turned gold. The clouds behind the keep went pink. We just stood there snapping away.

From the edge of the castle grounds, you can see Mt Iwaki, the tallest mountain in Aomori, which had its top in the clouds that afternoon.

There was no castle coin here for our collection, but we got Hirosaki’s stamp. Also, in winter, the castle grounds are free to walk into. Winning.

Once the sun was gone, it got cold real fast. But we weren’t leaving yet, because the keep lights up at night.

For about twenty minutes, the sky went deep blue and the white walls glowed against it. Out came the big camera.

On the way out, we found the outer moat lit up too! Every winter since 2017, the snowy cherry trees along the moat near Otemon Gate get pink lights, so the branches look like they’re blooming in the middle of winter. Some parts are lit blue, which looks amazing reflected in the water.

If you’re in Hirosaki in winter, come in the afternoon, see the castle in daylight, wait for sunset and stay for the lights. Just bring proper boots and lots of layers. Time to warm up and find dinner, because tomorrow we head south to Sendai!