Matsusaka Castle

Overview

Matsusaka Castle (松坂城, Matsusaka-jō) is a ruined Japanese castle in the city of Matsusaka, in Mie Prefecture on the island of Honshu. Construction began in 1588, in the sixteenth year of the Tenshō era, during the Azuchi–Momoyama period — the decades of unification warfare that ran from 1573 to 1603. The castle sits at coordinates 34.7091667, 136.5258333, in the Tonomachi district of the modern city. It is listed among the 100 Fine Castles of Japan, a selection maintained by the Japanese Castle Foundation.

The site is a castle of two lives. It was built as the seat of a daimyō (大名, lord) in the closing years of the Sengoku period, and then, through most of the Edo period, it served as a secondary administrative centre for the Kishu-Tokugawa clan, the lords of Kishū Domain. The castle is also recorded as the headquarters location of Matsusaka Domain. Since 2011 it has been protected as a National Historic Site.

History

Matsusaka Castle was begun in 1588 by Gamō Ujisato, a daimyō who had been granted the Matsusaka area after the campaigns of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The year falls in Tenshō 16, near the end of a period in which Hideyoshi was consolidating control over the country and rewarding his commanders with new territories. The castle was raised on a hill overlooking the coastal plain, a position that controlled the roads running through the region.

After the Gamō moved on, the castle passed through a succession of lords. In the Edo period it became a secondary administrative centre for the Kishu-Tokugawa clan, the branch of the Tokugawa house that ruled Kishū Domain, one of the three great collateral houses of the shogunate. Matsusaka Domain was administered from the castle as its headquarters location. The castle was dismantled in the seventeenth century under the shogunate's policy limiting the number of castles in each domain, and most of its buildings were lost.

What Stands There Today

Matsusaka Castle survives as ruins. The stone walls — the massive sloping foundations of cut stone that supported the keep and gates — remain among the most impressive in the region, and the hilltop site is now a public park. The castle grounds were designated a National Historic Site in 2011, a status that protects the surviving earthworks and masonry.

The site is also known for its plantings. The castle hill is a well-known spot for viewing cherry blossoms in spring, and the surrounding district preserves the layout of the old castle town, with merchant streets that grew up under the castle's protection. The ruins stand within the modern city of Matsusaka, which grew directly out of that castle town.

The Name in Japanese

The castle's name is written 松坂城. It is read in kana as まつさかじょう, and in romaji as Matsusaka-jō.

Breaking it down character by character:

• 松 — read here as matsu. It means "pine tree." Pines are a common element in Japanese place names and castle names, and the character appears in many locations across the country.
• 坂 — read here as saka. It means "slope" or "hill." The reading combines with the first character to give Matsusaka, the name of the place.
• 城 — read here as jō. It means "castle." This is the standard character for a Japanese castle, and it appears at the end of castle names throughout the country, as in Osaka Castle (大坂城, Ōsaka-jō) and Himeji Castle (姫路城, Himeji-jō).

So the whole name means, roughly, "Pine Slope Castle" — a name taken from the place where it was built. Note that the final character 城 changes its reading depending on the name it follows: it is jō in most castle names, but shiro when it stands alone as the ordinary word for "castle." Learners will also encounter the alternative spelling 松阪 for the city name, using 阪 rather than 坂; both readings are Matsusaka, and the two characters are easily confused.

Visiting and Context

Matsusaka Castle is in central Mie Prefecture, on the coast facing Ise Bay, a region long associated with the Ise Grand Shrine and the pilgrimage routes that led to it. The castle ruins are within walking distance of Matsusaka Station, and the hilltop park is open to visitors. The surviving stone walls are the main attraction, along with the views over the city and the seasonal blossoms.

For students of Japanese, the site is a useful entry point into castle vocabulary. The word 城 (しろ, shiro) means "castle," and 城跡 (しろあと, shiroato) means "castle ruins" — the term that applies to Matsusaka today. The castle also illustrates a pattern common to many Japanese castles: built in the unification wars of the late sixteenth century, reduced under the Tokugawa peace, and preserved in the modern era as a historic site rather than a fortified residence. Its inclusion among the 100 Fine Castles of Japan reflects its standing among the country's surviving castle sites, even though no keep or main building remains.