The exact date and by whom Kishiwada Castle was built is still unknown, 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 annihilation of 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. Since then, Kishiwada Castle has been ruled by three generations of the Koide clan, followed by Matsudaira (Matsui) Yasushige and Yasuteru from 1619, and the Okabe clan from 1640. Okabe Nobukatsu further renovated the castle, building it into a modern castle, and the Okabe clan resided there for 13 generations until the Meiji Restoration. In 1827, the castle tower was destroyed by a lightning strike, and during the Meiji Restoration, the lord of the castle destroyed the castle facilities such as turrets and gates, but 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 watchtower. In front of the castle tower is the "Hachijin Garden" designed by Mirei Shigemori.