Matsue Castle

Matsue Castle (松江城, Matsue-jō) is a Japanese castle located in Matsue, Shimane Prefecture.

Matsue Castle was constructed from 1607 to 1611 by Horio Yoshiharu, the first daimyō of the Matsue Domain, during the early Edo period. Ownership was passed to the Izumo branch of the Kyōgoku in 1633 and then the Matsudaira, a junior branch of the ruling Tokugawa clan, in 1637. The Matsudaira donated Matsue Castle to the city of Matsue in 1927.

Matsue Castle is one of few remaining feudal Japanese castles that retains its main keep in its original wooden form and not a modern concrete reconstruction. Built after the last great war of feudal Japan, the keep has survived earthquakes, fires, wars and other causes that destroyed or damaged many Japanese castles. However, a number of its castle buildings were demolished during the early Meiji period, leaving only the keep, an attached turret and stone walls existing as original structures today, though some of the other castle buildings have been reconstructed in modern times. Matsue Castle, standing on the shores of Lake Shinji, is one of Japan's Three Great Lake Castles and the heart of Matsue's central riverside district.

Text adapted from “Matsue Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Matsue Castle ranks #256 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #17 of the 297 mapped in Japan. Founded 1607, it is older than 31% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 580 atlas entries founded in the 17th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 13,072 times in the last 60 days, more than 95% of the atlas. 1 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. See how Japan compares in the castle statistics.

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