Historic Matsumoto Castle 歴史ある松本城

The main bailey is the innermost area of the compound. It was the location of the Honmaru Goten, an administrative building that doubled as the residence of the castle lord. Storehouses and additional administrative buildings were in the second bailey, and the third bailey contained the residences of the higher-ranking samurai retainers.

The nineteenth century saw many sweeping social and political reforms, beginning with the Meiji Restoration of 1868. Japan’s rigid class structure was abolished, and castles came to be seen as relics of a war-torn age. Over the next century and a half, Matsumoto Castle’s embankments were leveled, most of the checkpoint gates were torn down, and one of the castle’s three moats was almost completely filled in.

The castle’s core structures would have been destroyed as well, but they remain standing thanks to the efforts of local residents. In 1930, the castle’s two inner baileys and sections of the outermost moat (marked in red) were designated National Historic Sites, and they have been protected ever since.