Matsuyama Castle

Name: Matsuyama Castle
Address: Marunouchi, Matsuyama

Best time: Blossom season, usually late March to early April
Getting there: Ropeway or chairlift up Mount Katsuyama

Why it’s in the log

Matsuyama Castle was built from 1603 on Mount Katsuyama, in the middle of the city, and it's one of only twelve castles in Japan to keep its original keep. It has been a National Historic Site since 1952.

In 1989 the castle park was named one of Japan's Top 100 Cherry Blossom Spots. Ride up for the trees around the keep, then walk down through them.

Also logged in Matsuyama

All of Matsuyama →

Onsen4.2(16,591)

Dogo Onsen Honkan

Matsuyama, Japan

Japan's oldest onsen bathhouse, a Meiji-era timber turret said to have inspired Spirited Away's bathhouse.

Mentioned alongside

City

Matsuyama

A castle town on Shikoku built its whole identity around the oldest onsen in the country.

Country

Japan

The famous stops book out months ahead; the counters that actually feed the neighbourhood mostly don't take reservations at all.

Part of

Cherry blossom

The Best Places to See Cherry Blossom

Six places to see the blossom, from a Kyoto canal path to a Korean naval port and the trees Tokyo gave Washington in 1912.