Matsue Castle

Matsue's keep is one of only twelve original castle towers left standing in Japan, finished in the early 1600s and never rebuilt since. Inside it is deliberately bare: plank floors, a well shaft cut through the base, timber posts worn smooth, and ladder-steep stairs climbing to a top floor open on all four sides over the roofs of the town, the moat ring and the flat water of Lake Shinji. Unusually for a Japanese castle, the moats survive more or less complete, and a low flat-bottomed boat circles them, its roof cranked down at each bridge so passengers fold forward. On the northern side the old samurai lane keeps its earthen walls, gates and hedges.

History

Horio Yoshiharu, first daimyō of the Matsue Domain, built the castle from 1607 to 1611; it passed to the Kyōgoku in 1633 and in 1637 to the Matsudaira, a junior branch of the Tokugawa, who gave it to the city of Matsue in 1927. Many of its buildings were pulled down in the early Meiji period, but the keep, 30 metres tall, survives in its original wood (Wikipedia, Matsue Castle).

What to look for

• The original keep - unrestored dark timber, weapon racks and stairs closer to ladders than steps.
• The moat circuit by boat - a slow loop under bridges so low the roof is lowered on to your head.
• Shiomi Nawate - the surviving samurai street of earthen walls, gates and open residences.
• Lake Shinji at dusk - the wide shallow lake west of the centre with its small pine islet in silhouette.

When to go

Cherry trees fill the castle grounds in early April, the busiest and the best fortnight of the year. Summer is humid but suits the moat boat and long evenings on the lake. Autumn is clear and quiet. Winter brings grey San'in skies and occasional snow on the black boards, which is the photograph most people are after. The keep shuts in the early evening, earlier in winter.

Practical notes

The stairs are genuinely steep, shoes come off at the door, and stockinged feet on worn timber are slippery going down. Interior labelling is largely Japanese. Matsue sits a long way off the main routes and trains along the San'in coast are infrequent, so it works as an overnight rather than a stop. The moat boat is slow and sells out on holidays.

Nearby

Izumo Taisha lies an hour west, and the Adachi Museum gardens are south near Yasugi.

Key facts