Hanko Trail: Castles & Shrines
Stamp the places you've been
Only for iPhone
Free · In‑App Purchases · Designed for iPhone. Not verified for macOS.
iPhone
Visit Japan's castles, shrines, temples and World Heritage sites, and keep each place as a digital stamp. Stamping on site is free; add earlier visits with PRO.
Hanko Trail is a stamp book for Japan. Visit castles, shrines, temples and World Heritage sites, and keep each place you have been as a digital stamp.
STAMP ON SITE (FREE)
Find a castle, shrine or temple near you on the map and go there. Within 500 m of a castle, or within the grounds of a shrine or temple, stay for about three minutes and then press and hold to stamp. Passing by is not enough, and stamps are never pressed automatically.
ADD EARLIER VISITS (PRO)
Places you visited before installing the app, or forgot to stamp while you were there, can be recorded later with their date. You can also pick several places from a list and record them at once. A stamp added later looks and counts the same as one pressed on site.
FIVE BOOKS
- Castles: 1,380 castles of Japan, with the numbers of Japan's Top 100 and Next 100 Castles
- Shrines and Temples: 1,300 well-known shrines and 1,300 well-known temples
- World Heritage: Japan's 27 World Heritage sites, broken into 240 spots to visit
- Military Bases: 288 Self-Defense Force and U.S. facilities, stamped from public viewing points outside
Open a book from the shelf and switch between the map, the list and the book.
YOUR STAMPS FILL THE BOOK
Each stamp carries the place's name in brush lettering, the date in the Japanese era and a vermilion mark. The stamp designs stay in Japanese in every language. At the top of the book you can see how many of Japan's Top 100 Castles, the Next 100 and the castles with an original keep you have stamped, and your progress in each prefecture. Flag the places you want to visit and see them on one map across all books.
TOOLS FOR A CASTLE TRIP
A table of Japanese eras and years, and lists of emperors and shoguns, help you read the dates on information boards. They work offline, even at a mountain castle. The app can also tell you when you are near a castle (off by default).
PHOTOS AND BACKUP
Add photos to a stamp. Photos are copied into the app, so they stay even if you delete the originals from Photos. With PRO, export your books, photos included, to a single file and import it after reinstalling or on another iPhone.
ON YOUR DEVICE ONLY
There is no developer server. Your records, photos and location never leave your device. There is no cloud sync.
FREE AND PRO
Stamping on site, the five books, the map, flagged places, nearby castle alerts and the era table are free. A banner ad appears under the lists and books. PRO is a one-time purchase with no subscription: it adds earlier visits, recording several places at once, and backup export and import, and removes the ad.
PLEASE NOTE
- A real goshuin is given by the shrine or temple itself; these stamps are not a substitute. Be quiet on the grounds and follow the signs about photography.
- Do not enter the grounds of a base. Stamps are pressed from public viewing points outside.
- Do not enter private land or restricted areas.
- The app is not affiliated with the Japan Castle Foundation or its official stamp rally.
Available in English, Japanese and Traditional Chinese.
Ratings & Reviews
- This app hasn’t received enough ratings or reviews to display an overview.
• Fixed some shrines and temples disappearing from the map and list when "Unvisited only" was on
• Fixed the reading of a castle's name appearing twice on its detail page
• The search field in the Shrines, Temples and World Heritage books now shows a hint that fits each book
The developer, Toshihiko Arai, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Used to Track You
The following data may be used to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies:
- Location
- Identifiers
- Usage Data
Data Linked to You
The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:
- Location
- Identifiers
- Usage Data
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
- Diagnostics
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- Toshihiko Arai
- Size
- 42.2 MB
- Category
- Travel
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 17.0 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 17.0 or later. - Mac
Requires macOS 14.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later. - Apple Vision
Requires visionOS 1.0 or later.
- iPhone
- Languages
English and 2 more
- English, Japanese, Traditional Chinese
- Age Rating
4+
- 4+
- Contains
Advertising
- In-App Purchases
Yes
- Hanko Trail PRO $10.00
- Copyright
- © 2026 Toshihiko Arai
