Smartphone App Turns Pictures of Nagoya Castle into 3d Models; History Enthusiasts Experience Landmark in New Way at Tech Event

The Yomiuri Shimbun

2:00 JST, November 25, 2025

About 500 history enthusiasts took part in a special event on Sunday at Nagoya Castle in Nagoya City, where they got to experience the landmark in a new way by using cutting-edge technology to generate three-dimensional models from two-dimensional pictures.

Participants installed a dedicated app on their smartphones and took photos of sections of the castle, such as the main tower keep and the Honmaru Palace, from various angles. They strolled around the grounds, comparing the 3D images their phones generated with the real structures and listening to explanations from curators.

An office worker from within the prefecture said, “It was my first time scanning a building, and I really enjoyed it.”

The Yomiuri Shimbun’s Japanese-language website now features a highly detailed 3D model of the castle’s main tower keep, assembled from more than 1,000 drone photographs.