29.Matsumoto Castle Part1

Matsumoto Castle is located in Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture, which is known for its wonderful remaining five-level Main Tower. Matsumoto Basin, in which the city is located, has also been known for abundant springs flowing from the surrounding mountains since Ancient Times (we can still see many wells in the city area).

Location and History

Ogasawara Clan is driven away from Castle, but is waiting for their long-cherished plan to revive

Matsumoto Castle is located in Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture, which is known for its wonderful remaining five-level Main Tower. Matsumoto Basin, in which the city is located, has also been known for abundant springs flowing from the surrounding mountains since Ancient Times (we can still see many wells in the city area). That’s why the area was originally called “Fukase” or “Fukashi” which seem to have meant “waters running deep”. The Ogasawara Clan, which became the governor of Shinano Province (now Nagano Pref.), was based in this area during the Middle Ages. Many battles occurred during the Sengoku Period, and Ukon Shimadate, who was a retainer of the clan, built Fukashi Castle (the former Matsumoto Castle) in 1504 to protect the clan’s home, Hayashi Castle. However, they were driven away by the Takeda Clan in 1550, following the Siege of Fukashi.

The range of Matsumoto City and the location of the castle

A well in the city area (at Nishibori Park)
Another well maybe naneless

The Takeda Clan fortified Fukashi Castle to be a defensive stronghold even on the flat lands of the basin. The clan had the castle surrounded by tripled water moats. The lands inside the moats were called (from the center) the main, second, and third enclosures. The flow of the Metoba River was diverted to run alongside the outer moat, which made the castle more defensive. The clan also improved the gates of the castle by adding Umadashi systems in front of them. The system refers to a small round enclosure connected by a narrow path to the gate. It was a defense system created and frequently used by the clan. It was said that the basic structures of the castle was completed by the Takeda Clan. However, the castle was still basically made of soil at this point.

The miniature model of Matsumoto Castle during the Edo Period, exhibited by Matsumoto City Museum
The few remaining outer moat of the eastern part of the castle
The few remaining earthen walls inside the outer moat, at Nishibori-dorui (the western moat earthen walls) Park
The Metoba River
One of the Umadashi systems in the miniature model above, however, they were all removed at the site

A chance for the Ogasawara Clan to revive suddenly came in 1582 when Nobunaga Oda defeated the Takeda Clan before he was also killed by Mitsuhide Akechi in the Honnoji Incident. Sadayoshi Ogasawara who served Ieyasu Tokugawa returned to Fukashi Castle the following year – for the first time in 33 years, his clan held the castle. He renamed the castle Matsumoto to celebrate the event. The new name was said to come from waiting (matsu) for his long-cherished plan (hon-kai, the Chinese symbol for “hon” is also pronounced “moto”). However, the situation rapidly changed. He and his master, Ieyasu were transferred to the Kanto Region in 1590 by the ruler, Hideyoshi Toyotomi. Hideyoshi gave the castle to Kazumasa Ishikawa who had been a senior vassal of Ieyasu but was acquired by Hideyoshi.

The family crest of the Ogasawara Clan, called Sankaibishi (triple diamonds) (licensed by Minamoto at fr.wikipedia via Wikimedia Commons)
Kazumasa Ishikawa, drawn in the folding screens of “the Battle of Nagashino” (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Ishikawa Clan modernizes Castle by building Main Tower

Kazumasa started to modernize the castle using advanced techniques favoured by Hideyoshi, which was continued by his son, Yasunaga after Kazumasa’s death in 1592. Yasunaga built stone walls surrounding each enclosures, including the five-level Main Tower inside the main enclosure. He also replaced the Umadashi system of major gates with the Masugata system. The system refers to a defensive square space surrounded by stone walls and gated buildings. The gates were called Ote-mon (main gate) for the third enclosure, Taiko-mon (drum gate) for the second enclosure, and Kuro-mon (black gate) for the main enclosure. They were completed in 1594. However, local people suffered because of these rapid construction projects. A local legend says that when a worker, who had carried a huge stone for the Taiko-mon Gate, complained about it, Yasunaga heard about it and immediately executed him. Since then, the stone has been called Genba-ishi(stone). Genba was the name of Yasunaga’s official position.

The map around the castle

The main gate in the miniature model above, Metoba River is in front of it
The current main gate ruins
The restored Taiko-mon Gate
The Genba-ishi stone in the gate
The restored Kuro-mon Gate

The castle buildings were allowed to use roof tiles with gold leaf with the special permission of Hideyoshi. Such permission was only given to Hideyoshi’s relatives and trusted senior vassals. Other castles of the trusted vassals, which also used the golden roof tiles, were built around Ieyasu’s Kanto Region in places such as Komoro, Ueda, Kofu, Numata, and Sumpu Castle. These castles (including Matsumoto) formed the anti-Ieyasu network to monitor and threaten him. Yasumasa somehow survived even when Ieyasu gained power after Hideyoshi’s death (the golden roof tiles were then scraped). However, he was finally removed by Ieyasu in 1613. The reasons for this remain unclear, but it was possibly Ieyasu’s revenge against the Ishikawa Clan which had abandoned him.

The castles of anti-Ieyasu network

The ruins of Komoro Castle
The ruins of Ueda Castle
The ruins of Kofu Castle
The ruins of Numata Castle
The ruins of Sunpu Castle

Castle is completed with building Tsukimi Turret

After that, the Ogasawara Clan returned to the castle again but were soon transferred to Akashi Castle in 1617. The castle and the area around it, called the Matsumoto Domain, were followed by the shogun’s relatives and several hereditary feudal lords during the Edo Period. There were also a few important subsequent events for the castle. One of them occurred when Naomasa Matsudaira lived there. He heard about a plan of the shogun, Iemitsu Tokugawa, to visit the castle (though it would be canceled later) and added a new turret called Tsukimi (seeing the moon) Yagura to the Main Tower in 1634. So far, the tower had entirely been designed with battles in mind. This turret, however, was completely built for entertainment. The tower became what we see now, influenced by different tastes.

The portrait of Naomasa Matsudaira, owned by Gesshoji Temple (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)
The Tsukimi Turret (appearance)
The Tsukimi Turret (interior)
The Main Tower with the Tsukimi Turret on the right

The second occurred during the great fire of Matsumoto in 1727. The Main Hall next to the tower was burned down by the fire; the tower itself fortunately survived. People thought that a god called Nijurokuyashin (the god of the 26th night moon), which was worshiped in the tower, had saved it. In addition, the castle town prospered as the intersection of the Zenkoji Road (from north to south) and the Nomugi Road (from east to west). The town also had many guardhouses to make sure to prevent enemies from reaching the castle easily.

The ruins of the main enclosure main hall
The Nijurokuyashin God, which is still worshiped in the tower
The castle town in the miniature model above
A guardhouse in the model

To be continued in “Matsumoto Castle Part2”

29.松本城(Matsumoto Castle)

Location and History

松本城天守と埋橋(Matsumoto castle keep and Uzumi bridge)

松本城、特にその天守は現在の長野県松本市において際立った存在です。しかし、現在までの道のりは平坦ではありませんでした。16世紀に小笠原氏が最初にこの地に城を築き、しばらくして松本城と名付けました。1590年、石川氏がここに移され、城の拡張に手をつけ、そして天守を建てました。何度か改築の後、松平氏によって1633年に現在と同じ姿に至りました。
The Matsumoto castle, particularly its keep “Tenshu” is outstanding now in Matsumoto city, Nagano prefecture. But the road to present has not been smooth. In the 16th century, the Ogasawara clan first built the castle in this area. After a while, they named it Matsumoto castle. In 1590, the Ishikawa clan were transferred to the area and started to spread the castle and they also built the Tenshu. It was modified several times and reached the same appearance as now in 1633 by the Matsudaira clan.

松本城航空写真(The aerial photo of Matsumoto Castle)





Features

城の歴史は長いですが、城のシンボルはとにかく天守に尽きます。天守は「大天守」「乾小天守」2つの櫓「辰巳附櫓」「月見櫓」から成っていて、互いにつながっている構造です。大天守は、東日本で唯一の現存5層天守であり、黒く輝いている姿を見ることができるのは、下見板(板壁)に毎年特別な漆が塗られているからなのです。
In spite of its long history, the symbol of the castle is just the Tenshu. It consists of the large keep “Dai-Tenshu”, the Inui small keep “Sho-Tenshu”, and two turrets (Tatsumi-Tsuke Yagura and Tsukimi Yagura) which are connected to each other. Daitenshu is the only one remaining and its five-story castle keep in the east Japan. It has a brilliant black colored look coming from wooden side walls painted with special Japanese lacquer, annually.

天守西面、左から乾小天守、大天守(The west side of Tenshu. Inui Sho-Tenshu, Dai-Tenshu from the left)
天守南面、左から大天守、辰巳附櫓、月見櫓(The south side of Tenshu. Dai-Tenshu, Tatsumi-Tsuke-Yagura, Tsukimi-Yagura from the left)

松本城は、同じく5層の大天守を持つ姫路城とよく比較されるのですが、姫路城の方は西日本にあって白亜に塗られており、とても対照的です。松本城の天守はまた、国宝に指定されている現存5天守の1つとなっています(他は、姫路、彦根、犬山、松江)。
It is often compared with the Himegi castle’s equally five-story Dai-Tenshu painted in white clearly in the west Japan by contrast. Matsumoto castle’s Tenshu is also designated as one of the 5 remaining keeps of Japan’s national treasures (the others are Himeji, Hikone, Inuyama and Matsue).

「白い」姫路城天守(The “white” Himeji castle keep)

そもそも城の装備、例えば石落としや狭間などは正に戦いのために作られているのですが、それに加えてよくデザインされ、各層の屋根ともよくマッチしています。
Basically its devices such as machicolations and loopholes were built just for battles, they were also well designed and match each story’s roof.

松本城の石落とし(One of Matsumoto castle’s machicolations)takeen by あけび from photo AC

この城の美しく調和が取れた姿は、歴史ファンだけでなく、写真家、芸術家、一般の観光客を魅了しています。一例として、日本アルプスを背景にした松本城は、ともよい写真の主題になると思います。
Its beautiful total balance of the castle has been attracting not only history fans but also photographers, artists and everyday visitors. For example, Matsumoto castle with the background of the Japan Alps could be a very good photo subject.

日本アルプスを背景にした松本城(Matsumoto Castle with the background of the Japan Alps)

天守の中に入ることもできます。実は内部は6階建てです。ほとんど木材によりながら、こんなにも頑丈に作られていることに驚かれることでしょう。但し、内部はどちらかといえば暗く狭く、階段は急です。ですので動きやすい服装で登閣されることをおすすめします。
You can also get in the inside of the Tenshu which in fact consists of 6 floors. You may be surprised to see how strong it is built by using mainly wooden materials. But the inside is relatively dark and narrow, and stairways are steep. So it is recommended to wear comfortable clothes.

松本城天守の内部(A view of the inside of Matsumoto castle’s Tenshu)taken by あけび from photo AC

Later Life

その後の松本城はとてもシビアでした。まず江戸時代、本丸御殿が焼け落ちたとき、松本藩の藩士たちは必死に働き、天守に火が及ぶのを防ぎました。明治維新の後、他の建物が皆撤去されていき、ついには天守も売られてしまい、廃材として解体されるところでした。ここで社会運動家の市川量造が登場し、買主に待ってもらうよう頼み、その間に資金を集め、ついには買い戻しに成功しました。
The later life of Matsumoto castle was very severe. In the Edo period, when the Honmaru main hall was burned down, warriors of the feudal domain of Matsumoto worked their hardest to prevent Tenshu from burning. After the Meiji restoration, all of the other buildings were removed, and finally Tenshu was sold to possibly be for waste material. Ryozo Ichikawa, a social campaigner came out, then asked the buyer to suspend, after that he collected money to get it back, and was successful in the end.

明治時代の天守写真、松本城管理事務所蔵(The picture of Tenshu in the Meiji Era, owned by Matsumoto Castle Management Bureau)licensed under public domain via Wikimedia Commons

しかしながら、それだけでは不十分でした。このような大きく古い建物の維持には、継続的なメンテナンスが必要なのです。明治中期には、天守は柱の腐りから6度傾いてしまい、中にはコウモリが住む有様でした。ここでもう一人の救世主、学校の校長であった小林有也が登場し、城の修復に尽力しました。そしてついには松本城は国宝に指定されたのです。更には最近では、天守の周りに過去にあった門、黒門そして太鼓門が再建されています。
However, that was not enough for the castle. Such a large and old building is needed to do continuous maintenance to keep. In the middle Meiji era, Tenshu got to lean at about six degrees due to central pillars decayed, and bats lived in it. Another savior, school head Unari Kobayashi worked hard to repair the castle. At last the castle was designated as a national treasure. In addition, other traditional gates around Tenshu such as Kuromon and Taikomon has been rebuilt these days.

太鼓門(The Taikomon)

My Impression

もし天守に入りたいのであれば、十分な時間を確保していただいた方がよいと思います。恐らく天守に入る人たちの列に並ばなければならず、1時間近くは待つことになるでしょう。ここ数年有名どころの城巡りがブームになっているからです。
I would like to say that you would better have enough time to spend if you want to get in Tenshu, as there might be a long line. It may take nearly 1 hour in line because visiting famous castles has become more popular over the last few years.

天守南西面(The southwest side of the Tenshu)

そして、もう一つお願いとしては、この城を守ることに尽力した2人の功労者に敬意を表していただきたいのです。黒門の内側に、2人の顕彰碑があるので是非ご覧ください。
And my another suggestion is to show respect to two saviors who kept the castle intact, by looking at the plaque of them that is placed inside the gate of Kuromon.

黒門(The Kuromon) taken by あけび from photo AC

How to get There

松本駅またはバスターミナルから歩いて約15分。車の場合は、城の周辺にいくつか駐車場があります。
東京から:北陸新幹線で長野駅まで行き、篠ノ井線の普通列車に乗り換えてください(電車の場合)。または新宿バスターミナルから直行高速バスに乗ってください(バスの場合)。
It takes about 15 minutes on foot from the Matsumoto train station or bus terminal. When using a car, there are few parking lots around the castle.
From Tokyo: Go to Nagano on Hokuriku shinkansen super express, transfer local train on Shinonoi line (train). Or take a direct highway bus at the Shinjuku bus terminal (bus)

Links and Refernces

国宝松本城(National treasure Matsumoto Castle)