Today, the ruins of Shinori Tate have been developed by Hakodate City. They are a relaxing place on the hill above the Shinori Fishing Port in the south. They still have the square space in its center, but with no buildings, which is surrounded by the earthen walls and dry moats outside. They are also covered with lawn, which look beautiful.
The ruins of Shinori Tate are above the town
There is the memorial monument of the battle between the “Japanese” and the Ainu people and a rest station in front of the ruins entrance. The entrance at the western side of the ruins, have double of the dry moats. If you want to enter the ruins, you can go across the bridge over the first moat and the earthen bridge over the second moat. They were restored by the city in the present time to show the late stage of the hall.
The aerial photo around the castle
The memorial monument in front of the ruins entranceThe rest stationThe ruin entrance where you can see the double moats over thereThe bridge over the first moatthe earthen bridge over the second moat
Center of Ruins
The center of the ruins is a square surrounded by the earthen walls, which just looks like one of the Japanese style castles’ enclosures which developed after Shinori Tate was built. According to the excavation team, there were three generation houses. The second or third ones were probably rebuilt after the hall was first captured by the Ainu people. How the first-generation houses were built is marked on the ground. The place of the former well is surrounded by four-sided plates. Many Chinese ceramic ware and Japanese potteries were found during the excavation. There are also two monuments of the hall, which were built by local people who first tried to preserve the ruins in the Taisho Era, about 100 years ago.
The center is surrounded by the earthen wallsThe fat exhibition of the housesThe ruins of the wellThe two monuments of the hall
Enjoying Great View
I recommend you stand or sit on the southern side of the earthen walls. You can enjoy a great view of the Tsugaru Channel on the front and a distant view of Hakodate Mountain on the right. If the weather is fine, you can also see the mainland over the channel. It must be a good experience for you to relax and refresh. If you have time, you should consider walking the path outside the earthen walls on the bottom of the dry moats. For example, the eastern side of the moats uses a stream, so you can see the hall was built using natural terrain as well.
The view of the Tsugaru Channel and the Shinori Fishing PortThe distant view of Hakodate MountainThe bottom of the southern dry moatThe eastern dry moat using the streamThe northeastern corner of the earthen walls
You can enjoy both of real buildings and stone walls.
Features
Main Compound and Main Tower on it
The highlight of the castle is the Main Compound including the Main Tower in the back of the Main Enclosure. It looks so great as it was by mixing the remaining and restored buildings.
The front side of the Min Compound
The map around the Main Compound
To reach the tower, you need to pass the zigzagging inner route again through the remaining First, Second and Third Gates. There are also remaining mud walls with loop holes on the way. You can see other visitors though the holes.
The First GateThe Second GateThe Third GateThe remaining East Wall of Sujigane GateYou can see other visitors though a loop hole
Then, you will eventually arrive at the inner court of the Main Tower. Its style is called the Tower Grouping, so the court is surrounded by the Large and Small Towers and other turrets. Enemies would be destroyed if they could pass through that complex route earlier on.
Sujigane Gate, the entrance to the buildings of the tower groupingThe inner court
Visitors today first enter the Cellar, basement of the Large Tower, and walk around the other buildings like a corridor, seeing the exhibitions about the castle. In fact, the buildings there except for the Large Tower were all restored after the arson in 1933. They were built the same as the original one, so you may think they were not restored.
The Cellar of the Large Main TowerVisitors first walk around the other buildings of the tower groupingThe stairs to the top of the restored Small Main TowerThe second floor of the Small Main TowerThe attic of the Small Main TowerA view of the inner court from the Small Main Tower
After walking around, you will eventually enter the remaining Large Tower again. You can climb up the steep wooden steps to the top third floor. The floor is open and you can enjoy an even more great view there.
The first floor of the Large Main TowerThe second floor of the Large Main TowerThe stairs to the topThe interior of the top floorA view from the western side of the Large Main Tower (the buildings of the tower grouping in front, the city area and the Seto Inland Sea in back)A view from the southern side of the Large Main Tower (the Main Enclosure in front, the city area in back)
Great Stone Walls
If you have time. I recommend seeing the back side of the Main Enclosure, as there are also several remaining or restored buildings. For example, Nohara Turret is said to be one of the oldest buildings in the castle, which is the only remaining example of a two-tier Lookout Tower style turret.
The map around the Main Enclosure
The back side of the Main Compound (the Northern Corner Turret on the left and the Southern Corner Turret on the right)Nohara Turret
If you also get out of the restored Inui-mon or Northwest Gate, which is the back gate, and go back to the Main Gate Ruins, you can see the long, great, high stone walls of the Main Enclosure along the way. They look very beautiful having vertical curves like a folding fan and horizontal lines like a folding screen. However, they were originally built to attack enemies efficiently.
The Northwest GateThe stone walls of the northwestern side of the Main Enclosure, Nohara Turret is over there The stone walls of the northeastern side of the Main Enclosure, one of the oldest in the castleThe stone walls the Main Enclosure near the Main Compound, you can see the building of the Second GateContinuous stone wallsThe great stone walls of the Southeast Turret
Finally, I recommend you using the Kencho-ura Route when you return to the foot, because the route is well developed and you can see the remaining Southern Climbing Stone Walls close by. Though the Northern Climbing Stone Walls were unfortunately mostly destroyed, the southern stone walls were still intact, which is over 230m long covering the slope. It is said to have the best condition among the other remaining climbing stone walls such as in Sumoto, Hikone and Yonago Castles.
Kencho-ura RouteThe Sothern Climbing Stone Walls along the routeThe continuous Climbing Stone WallsThe Climbing Stone Walls of Hikone Castle
My Impression
Matsuyama Castle has become one of the most famous symbols of Matsuyama City. If you walk around the city area, you can see the castle buildings on the mountain from almost anywhere. In addition, if you visit and see them, you can still find and re-experience how to build and use the castle like people in the past used to do. This is because the city made great efforts not only for maintaining the original items but also for restoring many buildings like the original ones. I learned a lot from the castle and recommend you visiting and seeing it.
The Main Tower with the Main Compound of Matsuyama Castle
How to get There
If you want to visit there by car, it is about 30 minutes from Matsuyama IC on the Matsuyama Expressway. There is a parking lot in the park. By public transportation, you can take the city tram bound for Dogo-Onsen from JR Matsuyama Station or Matsuyama-shi Station on the Iyo Railway and get off at the Okaido stop. It takes about 5 minutes on foot from the stop to get to the park. From Tokyo or Osaka to Matsuyama City: I recommend traveling by plane and you can take the bus or rent a car to get there.
