Matsuyama｜Three families, four family crests, Matsuyama Castle, an ingenious castle that was rebuilt after multiple fires

There are only 12 castle towers left in Japan, and they are also one of the few well-preserved castle towers. Walking from the outermost part all the way to the castle tower, you can see the ingenuity of the strategic castle 400 years ago. Matsuyama Castle, built on Katsuyama, is a connected flat mountain castle. It is easy to defend and difficult to attack on the hill. There are four trails to climb the castle, but the most convenient way is to take the cable car up the mountain from Tounoguchi and take the ropeway down the mountain, so you can experience two different feelings at once. After the Battle of Sekigahara, Kato Yoshiaki was awarded 200,000 koku of daimyo, so he started building a castle in Katsuyama in 1602 and renamed Katsuyama. Before the long process of building the castle in 25 years was over, Kato Yoshiaki was transferred to Aizu and replaced by Gamo Tadashi. However, not long after Matsuyama Castle was built, he died unexpectedly, and finally it was Matsudaira Sadayuki, the nephew of Tokugawa Ieyasu, who took over. In the Meiji era, the Matsudaira family gave up their surname and changed back to their old surname Hisamatsu, but they could not resist the return of their land and property the following year, and Hisamatsu Katsunari became the governor of Matsuyama Domain. Because of this period of history, the three families in the history of Matsuyama Castle have four family crests. The Q-version doll of Kato Yoshiaki in the garden has the "snake eyes" family crest on its head; in the exhibition hall, you can see the left three-leafed palm of the Gamo family and the three-leafed palm of the Matsudaira family using Tokugawa; and finally, the Hoshiba family crest when the name was changed to Hisamatsu. When it comes to the ingenuity of Matsuyama Castle, you have to admire Kato Yoshiaki. The moat and earthworks around it, plus the winding entrance, are equipped with Ninomaru and Sanmaru at the same time, and there are arrow towers next to the city gates. It is extremely difficult to attack the city. When entering the Honmaru, there is a hidden gate next to it. As long as the army goes straight to the gate to attack, the soldiers in the hidden gate can attack from both sides. However, this city has experienced fires and reconstructions over the past 400 years. In particular, before the city was abandoned in 1873, there were two fires in three years. The disaster-prone Matsuyama Castle even destroyed part of the city during World War II. If you love the history of the Warring States Period and traditional Japanese architecture, it is highly recommended to visit Matsuyama Castle. You will definitely be able to glimpse the wisdom of the ancients from the architecture. 📍Address: 1 Marunouchi, Matsuyama, Ehime 790-0008Japan 🚗Get off at the Okaido Station on the tram and walk for five minutes to the Higashi-Yunkou Mountain Cable Car. #5月好去处2025