Matsue Castle

Listen for a moment. Gravel shifts under your shoes, and somewhere below the walls, water laps quietly against stone. Above you, a tall wooden keep rises from its hill, its walls covered in dark, weathered boards. The roofs sweep outward in pale grey tiles, curved like wings. Pine trees lean over the old stone ramparts. This is Matsue Castle, and it stands over a city built around water, between a wide lake and the open sea.

Before we climb, it helps to know what makes this place rare. Japan once had hundreds of castles. Most were torn down in the late nineteenth century, when the new Meiji government ended the age of the samurai. Others burned in war or in accidental fires. Today, only twelve castle keeps in the whole country survive in their original form. Matsue is one of them. The wood around you is not a modern reconstruction. Much of it is original timber.

The castle was completed in 1611, in the early years of the Edo period, a long era of peace under the Tokugawa shoguns. Its builder was a warlord named Horio Yoshiharu. He chose this hill because it controlled the land and water routes of the region. The lake, the rivers, and the moats all formed part of the defence. Stand still and look around. You can still see how the castle sits at the centre of a ring of water.

Look up at the roofline. The gables flare outward in triangular shapes, and many people say they look like a bird spreading its wings. For this reason, the castle carries a nickname: Chidori-jo, which means Plover Castle. A plover is a small shorebird, common along lakes and coasts. It is a fitting name for a castle that sits so close to water. Once you see the bird in the roof, it is hard to stop seeing it.

Now look at the walls of the keep. They are covered with dark wooden boards, treated to protect them from rain and snow. This dark finish gives the castle a serious, heavy look, very different from the bright white castles found elsewhere in Japan. Below the wood, the stone base is built from large, rough stones fitted together without mortar. These walls have stood for more than four centuries, through earthquakes and harsh winters.

Here is the first surprise. For many years, experts could not prove exactly when the keep was finished. Then, in 2012, researchers rediscovered two wooden prayer plaques connected to the castle's completion. These plaques carried a date in 1611. This evidence helped settle the question. In 2015, the castle keep was named a National Treasure of Japan, the highest level of protection for a cultural property. Look for these plaques, or replicas of them, on display inside.

When you enter, you will take off your shoes. The floors are smooth, dark wood, polished by countless feet. From outside, the keep appears to have five storeys. Inside, there are actually six floors, including a basement level. The stairs are very steep, almost like ladders. Hold the rail and take your time. Climbing them, you feel how this building was made for soldiers, not for comfort or ceremony.

In the basement, look for a deep well. This is the second surprise. A castle under siege needed water, and this keep had its own supply inside its walls. Defenders could hold out without leaving the building. Around the upper floors, look for small openings in the walls and floor. Some were for firing guns or arrows. Others allowed defenders to drop stones on attackers trying to climb the walls below.

The castle also has its share of legends, and these should be heard as folklore, not history. According to one popular tale, a young woman was sealed inside the stone walls during construction, as an offering to keep the walls from collapsing. Locals say that for a long time, people avoided dancing in the town, because the ground beneath the castle would shake in response. No record proves this story, but it is still told here.

The castle survived the late nineteenth century by a narrow margin. When many castles were sold off and destroyed, this keep was also put up for sale. Local people stepped in and raised money to buy it back, so it would not be taken apart. Because of their effort, the keep you are standing in still exists. It is worth remembering that this building is here because a community decided it should stay.

At the top floor, the view opens in every direction. On one side, you see Lake Shinji, wide and flat, often silver in the afternoon light. On another, you see the roofs of the city and the mountains of Shimane Prefecture beyond. Breezes move through the open windows. Lords of the castle could watch the whole domain from this height. Today, the view shows a quiet city that still follows the lines of its old waterways.

When you come back down, take a look at the moats below the walls. Small flat-bottomed boats carry visitors along these channels. In some places the bridges are so low that the boat roofs fold down and passengers bend forward to pass under. Nearby, along the moat, runs a street of old samurai homes. The writer Lafcadio Hearn lived in this area in the 1890s. He wrote about Japan for readers in the West, and his former home is close by.

Before you leave, pause on the grounds. Notice the moss on the stones, the sound of crows in the pines, and the way the dark keep stands against the sky. Walk slowly down the hill toward the moat. As you go, look back once more at the roofs, and see if you can find the shape of that small bird. It has been watching over this water since 1611.