Matsudaira Castle

History

The castle was founded by Matsudaira Chikauji in the 14th C. One legend says that Chikauji spent his days at the Matsudaira Yakata but stayed in this castle at night for safety. When Tanaka Yoshimasa became lord of Mikawa in 1590, the castle was abandoned.

Visit Notes

This is a small mountaintop castle built on an extension of ridge that comes down to nearly close off the valley of the Matsudaira village. The castle itself itself is not that high and is a fairly simple design so if you visit the village I highly recommend walking up to the castle. The main bailey is at the highest point and there are two smaller baileys along the ridge leading up to it and one smaller one along the way that sits at the farthest point to look down over the valley. Behind the main bailey is a large horikiri trench cutting off the castle from the rest of the ridgeline. It's a bit hard to get to from the main trail coming from the west side, but I discovered later that there is probably a trail along the east side of the castle that will take you into the big horikiri too.

Loading map...

Gallery

Castle Profile
English Name	Matsudaira Castle
Japanese Name	松平城
Alternate Names	Goshiki-jo
Founder	Matsudaira Chikauji
Year Founded	14th C.
Castle Type	Mountaintop
Castle Condition	Ruins only
Designations	National Historic Site
Historical Period	Pre Edo Period
Features	trenches
Visitor Information
Access	Toyotashi Sta (Meitetsu); 30 mins bus to Matsudairago bus stop
Visitor Information	mountain trail, open 24/7
Time Required	45 mins
Website	http://www.matsudairagou.jp/about/joshi.html
Location	Toyota, Aichi Prefecture
Coordinates	35° 2' 44.88" N, 137° 15' 46.44" E
Loading map... {"type":"TERRAIN","minzoom":false,"maxzoom":false,"types":["ROADMAP","SATELLITE","HYBRID","TERRAIN"],"mappingservice":"googlemaps","width":"auto","height":"200px","centre":false,"title":"","label":"","icon":"Castlemarker.png","lines":[],"polygons":[],"circles":[],"rectangles":[],"copycoords":false,"static":false,"visitedicon":"","wmsoverlay":false,"zoom":6,"layers":[],"controls":[""],"zoomstyle":"DEFAULT","typestyle":"DEFAULT","autoinfowindows":false,"resizable":false,"kmlrezoom":false,"poi":true,"cluster":false,"clustergridsize":60,"clustermaxzoom":20,"clusterzoomonclick":true,"clusteraveragecenter":true,"clusterminsize":2,"imageoverlays":[],"kml":[],"gkml":[],"searchmarkers":"","fullscreen":false,"scrollwheelzoom":false,"locations":[{"text":"","title":"","link":"","lat":35.0458,"lon":137.2629,"icon":"../images/1/1e/Castlemarker.png"}]}
Admin
Added to Jcastle	2020
Contributor	Eric
Admin Year Visited	2020
Admin Visits	January 14, 2020
Friends of JCastle
Shirobito - Matsudaira Castle
Kojodan - Matsudaira Castle
Jokaku Horoki - Matsudaira Castle

3.50

(2 votes)

Enable comment auto-refresher

ARTShogun

14 months ago

Score 1

Matsudairajō, located in Matsudaira Township of Toyota Municipality, chiefly features bailey spaces, earthworks created by levelling ridge lines and mountaintops. There is a yaguradai (platform for a keep) at the end of the fourth bailey wherein there is also a small shrine building. There is a marker and explanation board for the castle in the main bailey which is at the top of the hill. The most impressive feature of this site is a yokobori (lateral) moat complex which goes around much of the hilltop. I recommend accessing it via the well site (itself difficult to find but descend via the path from the fourth bailey and keep left); it is a hidden part of the castle. Although not too deep its length is impressive, and there is dorui (earthen rampart) segments left in some parts. To the south the yokobori slopes off into a tatebori (climbing moat). The castle’s kyokan (residential area) is indicated by some bloggers as being where there is now an old cottage, corrugated metal roofing covering the old thatching. There was some kind of ditch along the slope here but I couldn’t fathom its purpose.

Permalink | Reply