Ishikawa
Matsumoto Castle
松本城
| Alternate Name | Fukashi-jo |
| Founder | Ishikawa Kazumasa |
| Year | 1590 |
| Type | Flatland |
| Structure | 5 levels, 6 stories |
| Condition | Original |
| Rating | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
| Historical Site | National Historic Site |
| Historical Value | Top 100 Castles, National Treasures |
| Historical Artifacts |
National Treasures: tenshu, Inui Kotenshu, Watariyagura, Tsukimi Yagura, Tatsumi Tsukiyagura |
| Location | Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture |
| Map | Google Map |
| Access | Matsumoto Station, 15 minute walk |
| Website | Matsumoto Welcomes You |
| Visited | August 1992; May 13, 2002; April 11, 2009 |
| Notes | This was the first large castle and first original extant castle I ever visited. I was so impressed it sparked my future interest in castles. |
| History |
Next to Himeji-jo, Matsumoto-jo is the next best extant castle donjon in Japan. Built by Ishikawa Kazumasa and his son Yasunaga in 1590, Matsumoto-jo is designated a National Treasure. After Hideyoshi took Odawara he stationed Ishikawa Kazumasa in Matsumoto to govern his eastern provinces. The history of Matsumoto-jo actually begins with a castle called Fukashi-jo which was built by Shimadachi Sadanaga in 1504. That castle was attacked and captured by Takeda Shingen in 1550.
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Viewer Comments
(8) | Post CommentHi Dave, I actually have a simple GeoRSS feed I have played around with for this site. http://www.jcastle.info/feeds/georss Let me know if you have any good suggestions how to better make use of this or other geo-encoding.
March 15, 2009 at 03:51 PM
I was researching interesting uses for GeoRSS feeds when I stumbled across your site. A very nice project! ...& I have to say that Matsumoto Castle is probably my favorite (the method used to join the beams was awesome, the hidden floor was amazing, and the figure of the wood beautiful- the grounds aren't bad either).
March 11, 2009 at 01:01 AM
This is a great website for projects! I'm doing a model(which is hard) and a report. So much to do!
March 05, 2009 at 06:13 AM
so much projects! add me on that list! =)
May 22, 2008 at 11:19 PM
me three am doing a project and this is also helping me out am not kidding
May 08, 2008 at 12:53 AM
This castle is fantastic to go to. It has a wonderfully preserved Tenshu, as well as several other buildings, quite a few artifacts, and who could ask for a more beautiful setting than the Japanese Alps?
March 16, 2008 at 07:21 AM
Im doing a project too and this site is really helping out alot.
March 06, 2008 at 02:26 AM
This site is great because I'm doing a school project and I found alot of stuff on this site. Only this castle was built in 1508.
February 14, 2008 at 10:56 PM