Hikone Castle, between Nagoya and Kyoto, is a wooden castle dating back to the 1600s and one of the few surviving wooden castles in Japan. It is one of five designated as National Treasures. The castle is located at the top of a hill surrounded by a moat. The keep as well as one of the other buildings are open for touring. The wooden structures are mostly empty with some rather steep steps to get up to the top!