It is still unknown when and by whom Kishiwada Castle was built, but towards the end of the Sengoku period (mid-16th century), it was the residence of the Matsuura clan, who ruled the Senshu region at the time. In 1585, following Hashiba Hideyoshi's attack on Negoro-ji Temple in Kishu, Hideyoshi's uncle Koide Hidemasa became the lord of the castle and extensively renovated the main citadel into a five-story castle tower. After that, Kishiwada Castle was ruled by three generations of the Koide clan, Matsudaira (Matsui) Yasushige and Yasuteru from 1619, and the Okabe clan from 1640. Okabe Nobukatsu further renovated the castle and built it into a modern castle, and the Okabe clan resided there for 13 generations until the Meiji Restoration. In 1827, the castle tower was struck by lightning and burned down, and during the Meiji Restoration, the lord of the castle destroyed the castle facilities such as the turrets and gates, but even today only the moat and stone walls remain as pre-modern structures.
The current castle tower is a three-story, three-storey reconstruction built in 1954. Inside you can enjoy the exhibition room and the watchtower. In front of the tower is the "Hachijin Garden" designed by Mirei Shigemori.