Matsumoto Castle

Matsumoto, Japan, Japan

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Matsumoto Castle, originally called Fukashi Castle, is one of Japan’s most important historic castles, located in the city of Matsumoto in Nagano Prefecture at the foot of the Northern Alps, and it is distinguished as one of only twelve original castles that still retain a wooden keep built before 1868.

The keep is nicknamed “Karasu‑jō” (Crow Castle) because its black‑painted exterior was said both to intimidate enemies and to reflect loyalty to Hideyoshi, whose own Osaka Castle also had a dark façade, and it is unusual for combining military features from the Sengoku (Warring States) period—such as narrow arrow and gun windows and stone‑dropping openings—with later Edo‑period additions like the attached Higashi‑maru and Niwa‑maru wings.  

Construction began around 1504 under the Ogasawara clan, and the iconic five‑tiered, six‑story main keep was completed about 1593–1594 under Ishikawa Kazumasa, a retainer of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, making it the oldest surviving wooden keep of its type in Japan.