Bitchu Matsuyama Castle

Bitchu Matsuyama is the only one of Japan's twelve original keeps that stands on a mountain rather than on a plain or a low hill: it sits at 430 metres on Gagyuzan above the town of Takahashi, and the last stretch has to be walked - about twenty minutes uphill from the highest car park, which is itself reached by shuttle because the road is single track. The keep is small, two storeys, built in 1683 on a site fortified since 1240, with stone walls and a surviving turret and wall sections. The castle was effectively forgotten after the Meiji period and survived by neglect, being rediscovered and repaired in the 1920s and 1950s. In autumn, on cold clear mornings after a warm day, fog fills the Takahashi valley and the castle stands above it; the viewpoint for that is on the opposite mountain, not at the castle.

History

Akiba Shigenobu first fortified nearby Mount Omatsu in 1240, and Takahashi Muneyasu built a new castle on the present site on Mount Gagyū in 1331, of a different design from the one standing now. In 1600 the castle passed to Tokugawa Ieyasu, who put it under Kobori Masatsugu, father of the tea master and garden designer Kobori Enshū (Wikipedia, Bitchū Matsuyama Castle).

The main sights

• The highest original keep - 430 metres, the only mountain-top survivor of the twelve.
• A walked approach - twenty minutes uphill from the shuttle car park.
• A 1683 keep - small, two storeys, on a site fortified since 1240.
• The cloud sea - autumn fog filling the valley, viewed from the opposite mountain.

When to go

Late September to early December for the cloud; all year for the castle. Half a day.

What to expect

The final climb is compulsory and steep - there is no vehicle access to the keep. The shuttle is required in busy periods and the road is otherwise closed. The cloud sea occurs on a minority of mornings. The keep interior is small and bare.

Nearby

Takahashi's samurai district is below; Kurashiki is south.

Key facts