Matsue Castle

Matsue Castle
松江城
Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, Japan
The keep of Matsue Castle in 2008
Matsue Castle Show map of Shimane Prefecture Matsue Castle Show map of Japan
Coordinates	35°28′30″N 133°03′02″E / 35.474977°N 133.050556°E / 35.474977; 133.050556
Type	Japanese castle
Height	30 metres
Site information
Controlled by	Horio clan (1611–1633) Kyōgoku clan (1633–1637) Matsudaira clan (1637–1927) City of Matsue (1927–present)
Site history
Built	1607–1611; 413 years ago (1611)
Built by	Horio Yoshiharu

Matsue Castle (松江城, Matsue-jō) is a Japanese castle located in Matsue, Shimane Prefecture.

Matsue Castle was constructed from 1607 to 1611 by Horio Yoshiharu, the first daimyō of the Matsue Domain, during the early Edo period. Ownership was passed to the Izumo branch of the Kyōgoku in 1633 and then the Matsudaira, a junior branch of the ruling Tokugawa clan, in 1637. The Matsudaira donated Matsue Castle to the city of Matsue in 1927.

Matsue Castle is one of few remaining feudal Japanese castles that retains its main keep in its original wooden form and not a modern concrete reconstruction. Built after the last great war of feudal Japan, the keep has survived earthquakes, fires, wars and other causes that destroyed or damaged many Japanese castles. However, a number of its castle buildings were demolished during the early Meiji period, leaving only the keep, an attached turret and stone walls existing as original structures today, though some of the other castle buildings have been reconstructed in modern times. Matsue Castle, standing on the shores of Lake Shinji, is one of Japan's Three Great Lake Castles and the heart of Matsue's central riverside district.^[1]