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Mie · Matsusaka

Matsusaka Castle

松阪城

Matsusaka, Mie

CastleHilltop castle (hirayamajiro)Japan's 100 Fine Castles No. 43

What makes this castle distinctive

Built into the stone base of the keep are the lids of ancient stone coffins from burial mounds.

Why?

Gamo Ujisato finished this castle in just three years. The walls needed huge amounts of stone, and it is said that stone was gathered from all around the area, even lids of stone coffins from ancient burial mounds. Some of those lids can still be seen in the keep base and other walls.^[2][3][5]

Three things not to miss

The keep base and its coffin lids

Where: The keep site on the upper level of the main enclosure (honmaru), next to the Tekimi Yagura site.
What to look at: Walls of almost unshaped natural stones (nozura-zumi), and the large flat coffin lids mixed in among them.
Why it's interesting: The stonework around the keep base and the main enclosure is said to keep its original 1580s style. The big stone in front is a coffin lid, so the rush to gather stone is written into the wall itself.^[1][3][7]
Can you see it?: Visible from outsideThe ruins are open to walk around freely, at no charge.

The chain of walled turns from the Rear Gate

Where: The path from the Rear Gate (Uramon) site past the Naka Gomon site up to the main enclosure.
What to look at: Square spaces boxed in by high stone walls, where the path turns twice before going on.
Why it's interesting: These walled turns, called masugata, stopped attackers from charging straight in. According to the city, there are four of them in a row between the Rear Gate and the keep. Walk it and you will feel how hard the keep base was to reach.^[3]
Can you see it?: Visible from outsideFree to walk through.

Gojoban Yashiki, the castle guards' row houses

Where: Just south of the Rear Gate site, inside the former outer enclosure (sannomaru).
What to look at: Long samurai row houses and neat podocarpus hedges on both sides of a stone-paved lane.
Why it's interesting: These houses were built in 1863 for 20 samurai, and their families, whose job was to guard the castle. Descendants still live here and look after them, and they are an Important Cultural Property. The city rents one unit and opens it to visitors.^[4][8]
Can you see it?: Partly visibleYou can see the lane from outside. Only one unit is open inside (10:00–16:00, closed Mondays, free). The other units are private homes.

At a glance for visitors

Nearest station: 15 min walk from Matsusaka Station (JR / Kintetsu)
Climb: Some climbing
Time neededEditors' estimate: About 1 hour to walk around the ruins; allow about 2 hours with Gojoban Yashiki and the museum.
Admission: Adults 150 yen (groups of 20+: 120 yen); ages 6–18: 70 yen (groups: 50 yen)
Hours: April–September 9:00–16:30; October–March 9:00–16:00
Access: Open to visitors
The ruins (Matsusaka Park) are free and open to walk around. At Gojoban Yashiki only one unit is open; the others are private homes. The Japan 100 Castles stamp is at the Matsusaka City Museum of History and Folklore and the Motoori Norinaga Memorial Museum; when the museum is closed you can use the stamp at the Merchant Town Matsusaka Tourist Center or the Matsusaka Station tourist information center.

Checked: 2026-10-03

View on map Open in Google Maps Matsusaka Castle ruins (Matsusaka City, Japanese)Guide to the castle ruins (Matsusaka City, Japanese)

The story of this castle

Historical record

From the seaside to a hill guarded by a river

Gamo Ujisato first ruled from Matsugashima Castle near the sea. He then built a new castle about 4 km south, on Yoiho no Mori, a lone hill 38 m high. The Sakauchi River to the north served as a natural line of defense. The hill was cut in two: the core of the castle went on the northern hill, and a shrine to Hachiman, the castle's guardian god, on the southern one.^[1][2][5]

Historical record

Built in three years by Gamo Ujisato

Ujisato was a son-in-law of the warlord Oda Nobunaga and later served Toyotomi Hideyoshi. In 1584 he became lord of southern Ise, a domain worth 123,000 koku of rice, and in 1588 he moved into his new castle. It is said he brought in the Anoshu, stonemasons from Omi (today's Shiga Prefecture), for the walls. He also renamed the town Matsusaka, borrowing a character from Osaka, where Hideyoshi ruled.^[2][3][5]

Historical record

A castle built together with a merchant town

Ujisato laid out the castle town at the same time as the castle. He rerouted the Ise Road through it, invited leading merchants from Hino in Omi and from the port of Ominato in Ise, and promoted free markets. This was the start of Matsusaka as a merchant town, which later produced great trading houses such as the Mitsui family.^[5]

Historical record

No lord, and a fallen keep

Only two years after moving in, Ujisato was transferred to Aizu in 1590. The Hattori and then the Furuta families held the castle, and from 1619 it became part of the Kishu domain (based in Wakayama), run by a deputy called a jodai rather than a resident lord. According to early Edo-period records, the three-story keep in the main enclosure was blown down by a typhoon in 1644, and it was never rebuilt.^[1][10]

Historical record

The buildings vanished; the walls and row houses remain

After the Meiji Restoration the castle lost its role. The palace in the second enclosure burned in 1877, and the remaining buildings were torn down. No castle buildings stand today, but the stone walls survive almost all around. Gojoban Yashiki, built in 1863 for the samurai who guarded the castle, also survives and is still lived in.^[2][4][10]

Historical record

Walls repaired, a national historic site

A large-scale repair of the stone walls was carried out from 1988 to 2003. The castle was picked as one of Japan's 100 Fine Castles in 2006, and in 2011 the ruins became a National Historic Site. Today the grounds are Matsusaka Park, which also holds a local history museum and the former house of the scholar Motoori Norinaga.^[1][2][10]

People of this castle

Builder of the castle and founder of the town of Matsusaka

Gamo Ujisato

蒲生氏郷

1556–1595

A daimyo and son-in-law of Oda Nobunaga who came to Aizu in 1590 after Toyotomi Hideyoshi reorganized the northeast. He rebuilt the castle with stone walls and moats, raised a keep, named it Tsurugajo, and renamed the town from Kurokawa to Wakamatsu.

Third lord, said to have completed the castle

Furuta Shigekatsu

古田重勝

?–1600

The third lord of Matsusaka Castle, after Gamo Ujisato and Hattori Kazutada. He is said to have completed the castle.

Lord

Gamō clan

蒲生氏

Lord

Hattori Kazutada

服部一忠

1505–1595

Timeline

1588
Gamo Ujisato moves into his new castle on Yoiho no Mori^[2][5][9]
1590
Ujisato is transferred to Aizu^[5]
1619
The area becomes part of the Kishu domain, run by a castle deputy^[10]
1644
The keep is recorded as blown down by a typhoon^[10]
1863
Gojoban Yashiki is built for the castle guards^[4]
2011
The ruins become a National Historic Site^[2][11]

Buildings and remains

The keep today

Keep lost

A three-story keep stood on the upper main enclosure but is recorded as blown down by a typhoon in 1644. Only its stone base remains.

The site today

The site is now Matsusaka Park, with stone walls surviving almost all around. The Matsusaka City Museum of History and Folklore and Motoori Norinaga's former house stand inside the grounds, with the Motoori Norinaga Memorial Museum right beside them. The former outer enclosure is now taken up by schools, a hospital and other buildings.

Main buildings

Lost

Keep, turrets and palace

The keep is recorded as collapsing in 1644. The second-enclosure palace burned in 1877, and the other buildings were torn down in the Meiji era.^[10]

OriginalImportant Cultural Property

Gojoban Yashiki (guards' row houses)

Built in 1863. Ten units in the east row and nine in the west survive. Descendants still live here; one unit is open to visitors.^[4]

Original, relocated

Rice storehouse (at Gojoban Yashiki)

Said to be the rice storehouse moved from the Inkyomaru enclosure.^[1]

Key facts

Type: Castle
Setting: Hilltop castle (hirayamajiro)built on a low hill rising from the plainEditorial article
Period: Early modern (1570s–1871)Editorial article
Keep (tenshu): Keep lostthe castle had a keep, but it no longer stands (its stone base may remain)Editorial article
Built by: Gamo UjisatoJapan Castle Foundation
Built: 1588Japan Castle Foundation
Main lords: Furuta Shigekatsu, Gamo Ujisato, Gamō clan, Hattori KazutadaJapan Castle Foundation
Abandoned: 1871Wikipedia (ja)
Remains to see: Keep base (tenshudai), Baileys / enclosures (kuruwa), Stone walls, Fortified gateways (koguchi)Editorial article
Designation: National Historic Site (Matsusaka Castle ruins) (2011); Important Cultural Property (Gojoban Yashiki) (2004)Editorial article
Selection: Japan's 100 Fine Castles No. 43Japan Castle Foundation

Visiting

Access

Open to visitors

The ruins (Matsusaka Park) are free and open to walk around. At Gojoban Yashiki only one unit is open; the others are private homes. The Japan 100 Castles stamp is at the Matsusaka City Museum of History and Folklore and the Motoori Norinaga Memorial Museum; when the museum is closed you can use the stamp at the Merchant Town Matsusaka Tourist Center or the Matsusaka Station tourist information center.

Address

1538-1 Tonomachi, Matsusaka, Mie 515-0073^[7]

Checked: 2026-10-03

Nearest stations and how to get there

Matsusaka Station (JR / Kintetsu)JR Kisei Line and Meisho Line, Kintetsu Yamada Line

about 15 min walk · Some climbing

About 15 minutes on foot from the station. By bus, take a Mie Kotsu bus or the Suzunone loop bus to Shiyakusho-mae. The ruins are on a hill, so expect stone steps and slopes up to the main enclosure.^[7][10]

Checked: 2026-10-03

Hours and admission

Matsusaka City Museum of History and Folklore (Ozu Yasujiro Memorial Museum on the 2nd floor)

Hours: April–September 9:00–16:30; October–March 9:00–16:00
Closed: Mondays (except holidays), the weekday after a holiday, December 29 – January 3, and during exhibition changes
Admission: Adults 150 yen (groups of 20+: 120 yen); ages 6–18: 70 yen (groups: 50 yen)^[6]

Checked: 2026-10-03

Gojoban Yashiki (open unit)

Hours: 10:00–16:00
Closed: Mondays (or the next day if Monday is a holiday) and the New Year period
Admission: Free^[8]

Checked: 2026-10-03

By car / parking

About 15 minutes from the Matsusaka IC on the Ise Expressway. Use the Matsusaka city parking lot (listed as free in the Gojoban Yashiki information).^[7][8]

Checked: 2026-10-03

Grounds opening hours

Open at all times^[7]Checked: 2026-10-03

Time neededEditors' estimate

About 1 hour to walk around the ruins; allow about 2 hours with Gojoban Yashiki and the museum.

Steps, slopes and footing

The ruins are on a hill with many stone steps and slopes through the gate areas. Much of the ground is earth or gravel.^[2][3]

Wheelchairs and strollers

Not confirmed (the Matsusaka Tourism Association offers wheelchair rental).^[11]Checked: 2026-10-03

Toilets and rest

Toilets are available at the ruins.^[7]

English signs / audio guide

English signage on site is not confirmed.

Seasons

Cherry blossoms, wisteria and ginkgo color the stone walls through the year, with plum blossoms from mid-February to early March. The Ujisato Festival is held every November 3.^[7][5]

Photography

Inside the history museum, photography is allowed except in some displays, without flash or tripods. Rules for the outdoor ruins are not confirmed.^[6]

Works, closures and restrictions

The history museum is closed December 7–11, 2026, for an exhibition change.^[12]Checked: 2026-10-03

Around the castle

Museum

Motoori Norinaga Memorial Museum and former house (Suzunoya)

The home of Motoori Norinaga, Edo-period scholar of Japanese classics born in Matsusaka, was moved into the castle's Inkyomaru enclosure in 1909 and is a Special Historic Site. The memorial museum is right next door.^[1][13]

Checked: 2026-10-03

Castle town

Gojoban Yashiki

The lane of samurai row houses just south of the Rear Gate site (see highlights).^[4]

Checked: 2026-10-03

Editors' guide

An editorial guide based on sources and confirmed information — not a first-hand visit report.

Who will enjoy it

For stone-wall lovers, anyone who enjoys walking a castle's layout even without buildings, and those interested in Matsusaka's merchant history or the scholar Motoori Norinaga.

What makes it interesting

Compare the rough natural stonework at the keep base with the shaped stones of the second enclosure to see the difference between the original 1580s walls and later Edo-period repairs. Look for the coffin lids at the keep base. Enter from the Rear Gate to walk the series of walled turns up to the main enclosure.

Before you go

No castle buildings remain; the walls and the guards' row houses outside are the attractions. The historic site is officially written Matsusaka with the old character 坂, while the city itself has used 阪 since 1889.

Ways to enjoy it

Look down over the town from the main enclosure, then leave by the Rear Gate and walk the stone lane of Gojoban Yashiki to connect the castle with the lives of the samurai who guarded it.

Photos

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Open questions

Sources describe the start of construction differently: the city says it was finished in three years by 1588, the Japan Castle Foundation lists 1588, and the city's page on Ujisato says he built it after becoming lord of Matsugashima in 1584.
The number of stories of the keep and its 1644 collapse come from a secondary source based on early Edo-period records, not from the city's own pages.
That Anoshu masons were brought in, and how the coffin lids were collected, are described as tradition.
Accessibility details, English signage and current parking fees could not be confirmed.