Overview

About the Castle

Bitchū Matsuyama Castle stands at the highest location among mountain castles with existing towers in Japan, built atop Mount Gagyū at 430 meters elevation—a miraculous fortress. In the early mornings of autumn and winter, when sea of clouds form at the mountain's base, the tower appears to float above the clouds, creating the "Castle in the Sky" spectacle. Alongside Takeda Castle, this sight has recently become explosively popular as one of Japan's most fantastical castle landscapes. The castle's history begins with Akiba Shigenobu's construction in Ninji 1 (1240) and spans approximately 780 years. During the Sengoku period, intense battles over dominance of Bitchū raged between the Mimura and Mōri clans.

Architecture and Structure

In the Bitchū Rebellion of Tenshō 3 (1575), Mimura Motochikatsu was attacked by the Mōri faction and committed suicide, after which Bitchū Matsuyama Castle fell to Mōri control. With the onset of the Edo period, Kobori Enshu repaired the castle, and subsequently Mizunoya Katsutaka undertook major renovations during the Kan'ei years. His son, Mizunoya Katsumune, completed the present tower in Tenna 3 (1683). The two-story tower ranks among the smallest of existing towers, yet standing at 430 meters elevation, it radiates an austere presence filled with dignity. The tower's interior presents an unadorned, functional space that directly conveys the ruggedness and pragmatism inherent to mountain castles.

History of Construction

The towering stone walls directly beneath the tower stand impressively atop natural bedrock; seen from the climbing path below, they overwhelm visitors with their scale. A cat that came to reside in the castle, "Sanjūrō," became nationally beloved as the castle's "cat lord" and now boasts many devoted followers through social media. The stone walls featured in the opening sequence of the taiga drama "Sanada Maru" dramatically elevated the castle's fame. Among existing towers, Bitchū Matsuyama Castle most embodies a sense of "remote wilderness," and the stone walls and tower that appear after the arduous climb are suffused with the joy of "discovery."

Development of the Castle Town

This experience—savored only by those who have labored to ascend—represents the greatest allure of mountain castles. The castle town of Takahashi City, situated in Okayama Prefecture's mountainous interior, preserves much of the castle-town atmosphere through its samurai estates in Ishikaiya Town and the dry-landscape garden at Raikyū Temple. In the late Edo period, the Bitchū Matsuyama domain produced a capable administrator named Yamada Hōkoku, renowned for reforms that dramatically revitalized the domain's finances. Hōkoku taught at the domain school Yūshūkan and instilled the spirit of both literary and martial refinement in the domain's samurai. Takahashi City possesses Okayama Prefecture's sole "Important Preservation District for Groups of Historic Buildings"—the Ishikaiya Town samurai estates—retaining rich castle-town atmosphere from the Edo period.

Tourism and Experience

Raikyū Temple's garden is a celebrated landscape work attributed to Kobori Enshu; a tour of Takahashi encompassing castle, samurai estates, and garden greatly enriches a mountain castle visit. The remains of Aoe School smithies lie in Kurashiki City; the route from Bitchū Matsuyama Castle through Kurashiki to Bizen Osafune provides the preeminent journey through the Chūgoku region's sword history. Bitchū Matsuyama Castle ranks among Japan's three greatest mountain castles, standing alongside Takatori Castle (Nara Prefecture) and Iwamura Castle (Gifu Prefecture) as the pinnacle of mountain fortress architecture.

Connection to Swords

Bitchū Province, where the castle stands, rivaled neighboring Bizen as a major sword-producing region. The most famous Bitchū smiths were the Aoe school, which produced numerous master smiths from the Kamakura through Nanbokuchō periods, ranging from Ko-Aoe to Sue-Aoe. Aoe blades are distinguished by their unique 'sumihada' (charcoal-textured) steel grain, offering a different beauty from Bizen swords. Despite being a small domain, Bitchū Matsuyama valued martial arts, and its samurai cherished their swords within a culture of austere discipline. Traveling from Bitchū Matsuyama Castle to the Bizen Osafune Sword Museum creates a luxurious route through two of Japan's greatest sword-producing regions.