Matsuyama Castle (Saitama)

History

Matsuyama Castle was built by Ueda Tomonao, a vassal of Uesugi Ougigayatsu. Matsuyama Castle became famous as a major focal point of the struggles between Uesugi and the Hojo. In 1537, the Hojo led a major force against Matsuyama Castle but they were unable to take it. They set the town on fire and abandoned the fight. In 1562, The Hojo again attacked in force. This time they called for assistance from Takeda Shingen. Takeda tried to dig a tunnel into the castle from which to secretly attack, but they hit a water reservoir and failed drowning many of the workers. This gave them the idea; however, to cut off the water supply by rupturing other reservoirs or diverting water from the castle's wells. Conditions within the castle grew serious as they ran out of water and on June 4, 1563, Uesugi Norikatsu gave up the castle, the same day that his reinforcements from Uesugi Kenshin arrived. Matsuyama flourished under the Ueda who ruled for the Hojo until 1590 when it was taken by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in his campaign against Odawara. After the Tokugawa moved to Edo, Matsuyama Castle was temporarily ruled by the Matsudaira until 1601 when it was decommissioned.

Visit Notes

If you look at the map of this castle you'll see it's a maze of connected moats surrounding several smaller baileys. Due to a lack of good signs and maps however, I unfortunately can't make detailed comments about the locations of each pictures so just enjoy them in conjunction with the Google Map to get a good feel for the castle.
松山の地図を見るとまるで迷路の用になっています。その間のたくさんの小さめの郭を設けているので攻めにくいに違いないと思います。残念名がらいい看板と地図が少ないのでそれぞれの写真に詳しいコメントを書くことができません。グーグルマップを参考にしながら写真をお楽しみください。

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Gallery

path to the Honkuruwa
Honkuruwa Bailey
dry moat
Dry moat
Dry moat
Dry moats and baileys
Bailey
Dry Moat
Dry moat
Dry moats and baileys
Dry moat and bailey
Dry moats and baileys
Dry moat and bailey
Dry moat and bailey
Fourth Kuruwa
Fourth Kuruwa
map

Castle Profile
English Name	Matsuyama Castle (Saitama)
Japanese Name	松山城
Alternate Names	Higashi-Matsuyama-jo
Founder	Ueda Tomonao
Year Founded	1399
Castle Type	Hilltop
Castle Condition	Ruins only
Designations	National Historic Site
Historical Period	Pre Edo Period
Features	trenches
Visitor Information
Access	Higashi Matsuyama Sta. (Tobu Tojo Line); 20 min walk
Visitor Information
Time Required
Location	Yoshimi, Saitama Prefecture
Coordinates	36° 2' 11.72" N, 139° 25' 14.70" E
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	2011
Contributor	Eric
Admin Year Visited	2010
Admin Visits	November 11, 2010

4.00

(9 votes)

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RaymondWDaimyo

14 months ago

Score 0

Eric, it’s good to hear that it’s been cleaned up, perhaps more than I went to this castle ruin in spring 2017. When I visited, the Main Bailey(本曲輪), Second Bailey, Third Bailey, and Fourth Bailey all have signposts on site, so castle fans visiting can know which bailey they are actually at. The interiors of these baileys were reasonably well kept with the grass cut low, so it almost resembled a lawn, something that can’t be said about many parks in Japan with nothing but just dirt.

This castle ruin has the potential to be a great earthwork castle ruin in Saitama if more of the undergrowth are cleared to reveal more of the castle earthworks, particularly the places where the ditches are located. If they do, it can become like Genbao Castle in Shiga, with earthen ramparts, gate ruins, and dry ditches to be enjoyed by castle fans. Actually, some of the ditches at Musashi-Matsuyama Castle are wider than the ditches at Genbao Castle, approaching what would constitute a moat.

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ARTShogun

15 months ago

Score 0

Often called Musashi Matsuyama Castle : p but also sometimes called Higashi Matsuyama (but that seems gimmicky to me), this is a castle i need to go back to. Looking at maps now... I must've barely explored it when i visited.

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EricShogun

15 months ago

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It's also been cleaned up more recently. I would love to go back again myself! Maybe for a future "stuck in Tokyo with nothing to do" kind of day I will hit this one again.

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ARTShogun

91 months ago

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One enters through a gateway which is a hall to Kannon built against the rock. The climb from here was tricky but fun, as a muddy stream ran down. Ascending I took a shortcut using tree roots as a set of ladders, after going through a heart-shaped hole in the rockface. Nearby are the 100 Caves of Yoshimi. It's a Kofun Period site but has general appeal, and is especially popular with children. I recommend going if you're doing the castle as it's very close.

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ARTShogun

91 months ago

Score 0

I went today, it was fairly well signposted.

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