Get to know the castle
Castle at a glance
- Site & layout
- Hill-and-plain castle with its main enclosure on Mount Katsuyama
- Origins
- Begun 1602; surviving main keep rebuilt in the late Edo period
- Builders & patrons
- Kato Yoshiaki and subsequent lords
- Other names
- —
- What remains today
- Edo-period main keep and other structures; the complex also includes reconstructions
THE STORY
The story behind the walls
Kato Yoshiaki began construction in 1602. Later lords continued building and modifying the hilltop stronghold. A lightning fire destroyed the keep complex in 1784. The surviving main keep was completed in the late Edo period after a long rebuilding process. Conservation and reconstruction around it have produced a complex containing buildings from several periods.
LAYOUT & ARCHITECTURE
Read the landscape and the buildings.
The main enclosure spreads over Mount Katsuyama, with an elevated inner compound supported by high walls. Its linked arrangement of main keep, smaller keep and turrets created mutually supporting defences. The visible complex combines surviving structures and modern reconstructions, whose dates can be compared on site.
A CLOSER LOOK
Details worth a closer look.
A surviving late-Edo keep
The main keep was rebuilt in the late Edo period and is one of Japan’s twelve historic keeps. Its construction date differs from the castle’s foundation in 1602.
Linked keep complex
The arrangement connecting the main keep, smaller keep and turrets protected the inner compound. Notice the spaces enclosed between buildings and the positions of their entrances.
Summit panorama
Views extend across the Matsuyama Plain towards the Seto Inland Sea. The panorama helps explain the choice of this hill above the town.
THROUGH THE YEARS
A short timeline
- 1602
Kato Yoshiaki begins construction.
- 1784
Lightning fire destroys the keep complex.
- Late Edo period
The keep complex is rebuilt, including the surviving main keep.
BEFORE YOU GO
A note before you go.
There is still a walk to the keep after taking the ropeway or chairlift. Check operating conditions and the official ascent guide.
Information checked: 27 September 2026
Sources & official information
Some official sources are available in Japanese only.
