Nagoya Castle Coloring Pages

Golden Shachihoko on the Roof! Nagoya Castle

Nagoya Castle in Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, is a castle famous for its golden shachihoko. On both ends of the top roof, two shining golden shachihoko are sitting proudly. A shachihoko is an imaginary creature with a tiger's head and a fish's body, and people believed it protected buildings from fire. Because these golden shachihoko are so famous, Nagoya Castle is also called Kinshojo (Golden Shachihoko Castle).

A Castle Built by Order of Tokugawa Ieyasu

The person who ordered Nagoya Castle to be built was Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Edo Shogunate. In 1609, he decided to build a castle in this spot for his ninth son, Yoshinao. He even moved the entire town of Kiyosu—which had been the center of Owari until then—all the way to Nagoya! This huge move is called "Kiyosu-goshi."

"Tenka Fushin" Brought Warlords from All Over Japan Together

This castle was built using a method called Tenka Fushin, where Ieyasu ordered warlords from all across the country to help. The stone wall for the main keep was especially hard to build, so it was put in the hands of Kato Kiyomasa, a famous master of stone wall building. That is why the stone walls of Nagoya Castle are still tall, straight, and amazing to look at today!

Five Roof Levels: As Tall as an 18-Story Building

Looking from the outside, the big main keep has five roof levels stacked together. Inside, it is divided into five floors and one basement level. The stone wall is about 19 meters high, and the building is about 36 meters high, adding up to over 55 meters! That is about the same height as an 18-story building.

White Walls and a Green Roof

The walls of Nagoya Castle are painted with white plaster, and the roof is a bluish-green color. This green color comes from copper sheets on the roof that rusted over many, many years. It used to be brown like a 10-yen coin, but it slowly changed into the color you see today!

Burned in the War, Rebuilt by Everyone's Donations

During the Great Nagoya Air Raid in 1945, both the main keep and the Honmaru Goten Palace of Nagoya Castle burned down. But local shop owners in Nagoya worked hard, and donations poured in from all over Japan. Thanks to them, it was rebuilt with reinforced concrete in 1959! The main keep you see today was brought back to life at this time.

One of Japan's Three Great Castles

Nagoya Castle is counted as one of Japan's Three Great Castles, along with Osaka Castle and Kumamoto Castle. There is even a famous saying, "Owari Nagoya thrives because of its castle." It has been the pride of the people of Nagoya for a very long time!

Greenish-blue roofs, keep the walls white

The most important thing for Nagoya Castle is the difference in color between the roofs and the walls. For the roofs, green with a touch of blue is best. For the walls, we recommend leaving them white without coloring them in. Leaving the walls white makes the green roofs pop out clearly, looking just like the real Nagoya Castle from a photo!

Make the shachihoko gold. Make only this part shine bright

The two shachihoko creatures on the very top roof are gold. Color them yellow first, then add orange or brown over the scales to make them shine like real metal. Making this part stand out with strong colors will naturally draw everyone's eyes to the top!

Change the roof greens a little between top and bottom

If you color all five roof levels with the exact same green, the picture will look flat. Use bright green for the higher roofs and a slightly darker green for the lower roofs. This shows how the layers stack up and makes your picture look 3D!

Do not color the inside of the windows black

The windows lined up on the walls look dark in photos. But it is best not to color them solid black. Gently add light gray or light blue instead. This shows there is space inside the windows. If you make them all black, your picture will look too heavy.

Change the stone colors little by little for the stone wall

Instead of using just one gray for the stone wall, mix in gray, light brown, and light green for each stone. Changing the colors of stones next to each other shows that stones of different sizes are stacked together. If they are all the same color, it will just look like a plain wall.

Color the decorations inside the gables differently

The triangular parts of the roof are called gables. The decoration hanging in the middle is called a gegyo, and it is made of wood. Color it light brown to set it apart from the white walls. This shows you colored your picture with great care, all the way to the tiny details!

Shachihoko come in male and female pairs

The two golden shachihoko are actually a pair: the north one is male, and the south one is female. If you look closely, they are slightly different in size, and the male is taller. When you color your coloring page, you don't have to make both sides the exact same size!

The stone wall was built by the famous Kato Kiyomasa

The stone wall under the main castle tower was built by Kato Kiyomasa, who is famous for building Kumamoto Castle. That means Kiyomasa helped build two of Japan's top three famous castles, including Nagoya Castle!

"Owari Nagoya relies on its castle"

There is a line in an old song called the Ise Ondo that goes, "Ise relies on Tsu, Tsu relies on Ise, and Owari Nagoya relies on its castle." It means that the town of Nagoya thrives thanks to this castle. Nagoya Castle was so famous that people have been singing about it since the Edo period!

There is a plan to rebuild it out of wood

The current main castle tower is built from concrete, but Nagoya City has a plan to rebuild it out of wood. It is a huge project to bring back the wooden tower just like it was in the Edo period. Because of this, you cannot go inside the main tower right now.