Tsuyama Castle

Architecture, patrimoine et histoire · Préfecture d'Okayama

Perched on Kakuzan hill above the city of Tsuyama, this castle was one of the largest strongholds in western Japan. Mori Tadamasa, appointed lord of the Tsuyama domain in 1603, began building a new fortress here in 1604 on the ruins of an earlier Yamana clan castle; the work lasted twelve years and was completed in 1616. The complex had a five-storey keep and more than seventy turrets, making it one of Japan's three great hilltop castles (hirayamajiro) alongside Himeji and Matsuyama. Dismantled after the abolition of the domains in 1873, it now retains only its impressive tiered stone ramparts, some reaching around ten metres in height, forming a maze of passages and terraces. In 2005 the Bitchū turret, the largest in the castle, was rebuilt using traditional techniques, with a tatami-floored interior. Now Kakuzan Park, the site is famous for the thousands of cherry trees planted in 1900, which make it one of the finest hanami spots in western Japan.