Matsue castle Honshu Japan
Matsue (松江市, Matsue-shi?) is the capital city of Shimane Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. As of 2005, the city has an estimated population of 196,093 and the density of persons per km². The total area is km². It is called the "water city," as it sits on Lake Shinji, the seventh largest lake in Japan. Nearby Izumo Taisha is considered to be the oldest and most important Shinto shrine in Japan. Matsue Castle (松江城, Matsue-jō?) is a feudal castle in Matsue in Shimane prefecture, Japan. Nicknamed the "black castle" or "plover castle", it is one of the few remaining medieval castles in Japan – at least of the few remaining in their original wooden form, and not a modern reconstruction in concrete. The construction of Matsue Castle began in 1607 and finished in 1611, under the local lord Horio Yoshiharu. In 1638, the fief and castle passed to the Matsudaira clan, a junior branch of the ruling Tokugawa clan. Most Japanese castles have been damaged or destroyed by war, earthquakes, or other causes. Since a large part of their construction was wooden, fire was a major hazard. Matsue castle was built after the last great war of feudal Japan, so it never saw a battle. Yet only some of the walls and the keep exist today. History Of the 12 castles remaining in Japan, this is the only one remaining in the Sanin region. This castle is the second largest, the third tallest (30m) and the sixth oldest amongst castles. It was built over a period of 5 years by the daimyo of the Izumo region, Yoshiharu Horio, and was completed in 1622. After reigns of Tadaharu Horio and Tadataka Kyogokushi, Naomasa Matsudaira, a grandson of Ieyasu Tokugawa, became Lord of the castle, after being transferred from Matsumoto in Shinshu province, and thus began a reign that lasted 10 generations of the Matsudaira clan over a period of 234 years. In 1875, all of the buildings within the castle were destroyed, with the exception of the castle tower itself
Size: 3813px × 5776px
Location: Matsue Honshu Japan
Photo credit: © Malcolm Wray / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1638, black, castle, castles, clan, clan., clouds, feudal, fief, form, hedge, history, horio, japan, japan., japanese, lord, matsudaira, matsue, med, medieval, modern, path, plover, prefecture, reconstruction, samuri, shimane, sky, tokugawa, warroir, wooden, yoshiharu
