Matsue Castle

During the Meiji Restoration period, a lot of castles in Japan were destroyed. Fortunately, this Matsue-Jo Castle, which was built in 1611 after 5 years construction, survived and still stands beautifully at the hill top of the Matsue City.

The keep of the castle looks 5 storied building, but it is trickily built with 6 floors inside. The castle shows some aspects of the civil war period in order to protect the people inside. Black wall of the keep and the stone wall surrounding the building, for example, are all built for practical protection purposes rather than keeping the appearance clean and beautiful.

The second floor also shows the surviving strategy of the castle. You can see the well to pick up water about 30 m below the floor. It also has internal storage space to keep food.

The third floor has helmets and protectors from the civil war period. You can also see old paintings and miniature models of the castle and surrounding regions in different times.

The top floor offers spectacular view of the Matsue City. Toward southwest, you can see beautiful Shinjiko Lake. In the morning, you might be able to see small boats picking up small shells (Shijimi), which go quite well with Miso soup.

I visited the castle last Sunday after maybe more than 15 years. Unfortunately, there were not so many non-Japanese people. I think the castle should be something that the Japanese people should feel proud of and should be more openly promoted outside of Japan.