A "water castle" set at the mouth of the Ibi-gawa, Kuwana-jō sat overlooking the old Tōkaidō post station of Kuwana-juku. Although an earlier castle occupied roughly the same site, Kuwana Castle's foundation dates from 1595 when its donjon was completed. The castle and area was given to Honda Tadakatsu following the Battle of Sekigahara, after which the grounds were expanded and the town built up. In 1701 a devastating fire engulfed the surrounding town and also burned down the castle donjon, which was never rebuilt. The remainder of the castle was torn down after the Meiji Restoration, and its grounds converted to Kuwana's present-day park of Kyūka-kōen. Pictured here are the remains of the donjon foundation, now crowned with a bronze marker and among the only remainders that a castle once stood here.