Most of castle towers were demolished after the feudal era, and eight towers were burned during the WW2. Only twelve towers remain until now; “Bitchu Matsuyama Castle” is one of them. By the way, many castles were rebuilt after the WW2, but most of them are concrete structure.
I visited the castle and the town under it
last October. It is in Okayama prefecture, western Japan. It's a pity that I couldn’t see the city museum because of the
renovation work; it already reopened (https://www.city.takahashi.lg.jp/soshiki/9/kyoudo4240131.html).
雲の上の城で名高い備中松山城は、現存12天守のうち、唯一の山城です。
また、その城下の高梁を訪ねました。残念ながら、高梁市郷土資料館(https://www.city.takahashi.lg.jp/soshiki/9/kyoudo4240131.html)は、改修工事で休館のため訪問できませんでした。
The view of the mountain castle from Ohkubo pass.
映画「バッテリー」(2006)のロケ地・大久保峠から。
I climbed the castle. The signboard on the left says, “Welcome! Lord of the castle”. There are several signboards which cheer up climbers (visitors).
山城を登ります。立て札が所々にあり、城主が励ましてくれます。今は猫(さんじゅーろー)が城主です。
The stone wall showed up. It is the relic of the main gate “Ohte-mon”.
石垣が姿を現しました。大手門跡です。
The castle was originally built in 1240, then renovated a lot. The main buildings above including the castle tower was constructed from 1681 to 1683.
1240年に作られましたが、数々の改修を経て、1681年から3年をかけて天守などが作られました。
We can see Takahashi City from the tower. The lord usually resided in the city.
天守に登ると高梁の街が見えます。殿は城下に住んでいました。
The photo lower left is a view of the castle from the hotel in the city. The photo above is the live image on the site (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZf9ZxORZ0g) at the same time; the castle floats on the cloud. The view attracts many people (reference: https://www.okayama-kanko.jp/feature/matsuyamacastle/2). I gave up to go to the observation deck because I had to drive through the cloud.
翌朝、ホテルの部屋から見た備中松山城は雲の中(左下)。でも、ライブカメラ(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZf9ZxORZ0g)の映像では、雲の上でした。名物の雲海に浮かぶ城の景色です。でも、雲の中を登っていく勇気がないので、展望台に行くのは断念。
The tower was completely repaired in 1940. Students brought twenty thousand of roof tiles and climbed the castle. I’m sure Takahashi people are proud of the castle.
昭和15年の大修理では、天守を解体して修理しました。学生さんたちが2万枚の瓦を担ぎ上げました。地域の誇りですね。
Former samurais’ houses remain in the castle city. The lord’s residence and office was at the end of the street.
城下の石火矢町には武家屋敷が残ります。通りの先に見える高梁高校のあたりに御殿がありました。
The garden above is in Raikyuji (temple) in the city. Kobori Enshu who was a samurai officer and an artist designed the garden. He lived in the temple for several years.
城下の頼久寺には、小堀遠州が1605年ごろ作った庭があります。遠州の父が、備中国奉行として、赴任しましたが、城が荒廃していたので、ここを仮住まいとしました。
The Buddhist stone statue on the bridge (can you find it?) is impressive. It has relaxed many people, I think.
橋の上の石仏が印象的でした。たくさんの人を癒してきたと思います。
Many business people used to live in this area. However, it is a calm town. Populations of the local cities are decreasing in Japan.
高梁川に近い本町通りは、商人の街でした。ひと気が少なかったですね。地方都市の人口減少は激しいと思います。
I ate Okonomi-yaki (pancake-like food) as a supper; it’s amazing. An omelet was at the bottom, then thinly shredded cabbage, curry-flavored fried rice, fried noodles and a crape are on it (five layers). It looked not-good, but tasted very good. It went well with beer so much. There are delicious Japanese foods which I don’t know yet.
城下で食べたお好み焼き(たーくん焼@大ちゃん)が新鮮でした。上からクレープ、焼きそば、ドライカレー、千切りキャベツ、卵焼きの五層構造です。岡山ではお好み焼きにご飯を入れますが、それをカレーで味付けています。美味かった。知らないものがまだまだあります。
Visited in November, 2022
Official website: https://www.city.takahashi.lg.jp/soshiki/9/shiro4240131.html
(in Japanese), accessed in April, 2023
Previous post (museum in Tokyo): Katsushika City Museum、葛飾区郷土と天文の博物館
Next post (museum in the same city but 25 kms away): Fukiya Folk Museum、ベンガラの町・吹屋の郷土館と旧片倉家住宅
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