Matsumoto Castle

We’re on a journey around Japan, so we needed to leave Tokyo for other parts of the country. Today we caught the train to Matsumoto. We bought bento boxes from one of the bento box shops in Tokyo station

and headed out of Tokyo.

Matsumoto is known for some of its old streets and its frog statues.

With the restoration of the emperor in the late 1800s, all the old castles were destroyed, except twelve. Matsumoto Castle is one of the twelve. It was saved by some very determined locals who didn’t want their heritage destroyed. It had become derelict, but years of restoration have returned it to a place where you can walk through it to the top. It once had the top floors leaning like the tower of Pisa. The castle looks like it has five floors from the outside, but there’s actually an extra floor inside, between the second and third floor. 

As it was a long weekend, there were hoards of people and the journey through the castle was one long queue winding up through the castle and back down.

The castle is the definition of defensive. The bridge across the moat has a kink so attackers can’t run across. 

Unlike European castles, it didn’t include living quarters, but was used for storage unless it was being attacked. The stairs up have treads that are very high, and are like ladders, so it’s difficult to climb up between floors. 

It has slits in the floors so that the defenders could pour rocks and other things onto attackers. The castle was built around the time that guns were invented, so it has slits for guns 

and different slits for arrows, 

all carefully calibrated to allow shots to go particular distances to hit attackers at the other side of the moat. There are very few actual windows and hidden floor has little light. The floor plan was confusing for attackers. The castle has displays of the very quick adoption and development of firepower once Japan started using guns, 

and a lot of military information related to the castle. Samurai wives and daughters made shot for guns. 

They also made their armour.

There was a chrysanthemum display at the castle.

After we visited the castle, we went to the Matsumoto City museum of art, 

where there’s a permanent exhibition by Yoyai Kusama, who was born in Matsumoto.