matsuyama castleMatsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture

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Matsuyama Castle DATA
Other nameKinki Castle, Katsuyama Castle
castle construction1602
address1 Marunouchi, Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture
telephone number089-921-4873
Opening hours9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (varies depending on the season)
closing day3rd Wednesday of December
Admission feeAdults 520 yen / Elementary school students 160 yen

Matsuyama Castle is one of the 12 existing castle towers. A vast Hirayama castle with a main castle on the top of Mt. Shiroyama (Katsuyama) at an altitude of 132m.

Access to Matsuyama Castle
From Matsuyama Station on the JR Yosan Line, take the city train bound for Dogo Onsen for about 10 minutes, then get off at Okaido and walk 5 minutes.

HISTORYIyo Matsuyama Castle, a castle on the mountain built by the Matsudaira clan

Iyo Matsuyama Castle is a flat castle located in Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture. The castle tower still remains on Katsuyama at an altitude of 132m, and is counted as one of the 12 castle towers in existence. It was built by Yoshiaki Kato, and the current castle tower was rebuilt by the Matsudaira family, whose founder was Sadayuki Matsudaira, whose uncle was Tokugawa Ieyasu. Let's unravel the history of Matsuyama Castle.

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Castle built by Yoshiaki Kato
Iyo Matsuyama Castle is a castle whose construction began in 1602 by Yoshiaki Kato, a military commander known as one of the Seven Spears who served Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Yoshiaki Kato was the lord of Masaki Castle in Iyo Province and was a feudal lord with 100,000 koku, but thanks to his achievements in the Battle of Sekigahara, this amount was increased to 200,000 koku, and he began construction of the castle. It was Shigenobu Adachi who was ordered to be the fusho magistrate.
Iyo Matsuyama Castle has a castle tower on the summit of Katsuyama at an altitude of 132m, and Ninomaru and Sannomaru at the southwestern foot of the castle.
Like Himeji Castle, the castle tower is built in the same style as in Himeji Castle, and the Ninomaru is where buildings such as palaces and tea rooms are built for the feudal lord to live and conduct government affairs, while the Sannomaru is where the residences of senior vassals are built.
In 1603, Kato Yoshiaki announced that he would move his castle to Matsuyama and change the name of the land to ``Matsuyama.''
Iyo Matsuyama Castle is not the site of a mountain castle or the residence of a shugo before the Edo period, but is a newly built castle on a completely vacant lot.
Records say that the construction of the castle took about 25 years.
In the end, Yoshiaki Kato was transferred to the Aizu domain in place of Masanori Fukushima, who was transferred to the castle in 1627 without seeing the castle's completion, and Tadatomo Gamo was transferred as the lord of the Matsuyama domain. I'm here.
The rule of the Matsudaira family and the reconstruction of Iyo Matsuyama Castle
In 1634, Tadatomo Gamo suddenly died during his shift to Sankin, and with no successor, the Gamo family became extinct. The Matsuyama domain was once in the hands of Yasuoki Kato, the lord of the Ozu domain, and in the following year, in 1635, Sadayuki Matsudaira, whose uncle was Tokugawa Ieyasu, became the lord of the Matsuyama domain with 150,000 koku.
It is said that Sadayuki Matsudaira rebuilt the original five-story castle tower into a three-story castle tower.
At that time, the castle tower was apparently used for storage, so it may have been used to save on maintenance costs.
However, in 1748, most of Iyo Matsuyama Castle, including the castle tower, was destroyed by lightning. After that, Iyo Matsuyama Castle was rebuilt over 30 years until 1854. All of the buildings in the castle tower that remain today were rebuilt at this time.
For this reason, Iyo Matsuyama Castle is said to be the oldest castle among the 12 existing castle towers.
Iyo Matsuyama Castle after the Meiji period
In 1868, Iyo Matsuyama Castle was placed in the custody of the Tosa clan, but an accidental fire destroyed the Ninomaru and Sannomaru buildings one after another.
In 1873, the Castle Abolition Order was issued, and castles came under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Home Affairs. The castle gates, towers, and palaces at the foot of the mountain were demolished, but no bidders appeared for the land. Afterwards, Ninomaru and Sannomaru were sold to the Ministry of War and became the garrison site of the 22nd Matsuyama Infantry Regiment.
In 1923, the main castle building was sold to the former feudal lord, the Hisamatsu family (name changed from the Matsudaira family), who donated it to Matsuyama City, and Iyo Matsuyama Castle became the property of Matsuyama City.
In 1933, an arson incident occurred at Matsuyama Castle, and many of the buildings that had remained from the Edo period were destroyed.
In 1935, 35 buildings, including the castle tower, that had survived destruction were designated as national treasures based on the National Treasure Preservation Law of the time.
However, in 1945 (Showa 20) there was an air raid on Matsuyama, and in 1949 (Showa 25) another arson incident occurred, and 11 buildings at Iyo Matsuyama Castle, including Tenjin Yagura, were destroyed. .
In 1950, the 21 buildings that remained from the fire were designated as important cultural properties, and protection began.
In 1955, a ropeway connecting the park at the site of Ninomaru and Sannomaru to the summit of Mt. Katsuyama was opened, and Matsuyama Castle became Matsuyama City's leading tourist destination.
In 1968, the buildings that were destroyed during the Matsuyama Castle arson incident were restored.
In 1992, the Matsuyama Castle Ninomaru Historical Garden was completed, featuring Edo-period remains such as the large well, and a tea room.
Current Iyo Matsuyama Castle
The current Iyo Matsuyama Castle and Matsuyama Castle Park have been selected as one of Japan's Top 100 Historical Parks, Japan's Top 100 Cherry Blossoms, and Japan's Top 100 Castles, and are visited by many tourists from both Japan and abroad.
Currently, 21 buildings from that time still exist at Iyo Matsuyama Castle, including Tomumon, Inuiyagura, Shichikumon east wall, and west wall, all of which have been designated as important cultural properties.
Since it is the only castle built by the Matsudaira clan, the parent clan, the roof tiles of the building are engraved with the trefoil hollyhock emblem, which is the crest of the Tokugawa clan.
In addition, the view of Matsuyama City from the top of the mountain is spectacular.
The castle tower itself is lit up until 11pm, making it a popular nighttime photo spot.

History of the Iyo Matsuyama Domain, whose domain is Matsuyama Castle

Iyo Matsuyama Domainruled by three houses
The Iyo Matsuyama domain was a domain that included Matsuyama City, Kume District, Noma District, and Iyo District in Ehime Prefecture. Yoshiaki Kato, one of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Seven Spears, served as the first lord of the domain, and it was ruled by three families, the Gamo family and the Matsudaira family, until the end of the Edo period. here
Read about the Iyo Matsuyama domain
Iyo Matsuyama Domain
Iyo Matsuyama Domain DATA
Domain officematsuyama castle
old areaIyokuni Onsen District
stone height120,000 koku
Fudai/Tozamaoutsider, relative
main lordKato family, Gamo family, Matsudaira family
Estimated population210,000 people (first year of Meiji)
Japanese Castle Photo Contest.03