Matsuyama Castle Taiko Gate South Adjoining Turret

A corner turret on 24 square metres

Matsuyama Castle Taiko Gate South Adjoining Turret (松山城太鼓門南続櫓, Taiko-mon Minami Tsuzuki Yagura) is a single-storey wooden turret extending south from the Taiko Gate in the main enclosure of Matsuyama Castle in Marunouchi, Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture, rebuilt in 1972 and entered on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on December 3, 2024.

It runs from the turret storey of the gate along the rampart to the south and comes to rest on a projecting angle of the masonry, which makes it a corner turret in its own right despite a floor area of only 24 square metres. The single doorway is on the west, at the back, out of sight of anyone climbing towards the gate.

The turret that stood here was listed under the old National Treasure law when it burned in the air raid on Matsuyama of July 26, 1945. The timber reconstruction was completed in 1972, at the same time as the gate itself, and the two were registered together in 2024 with the north turret and the Taiko Turret.

Why a small turret was registered

The Important Cultural Property designation at Matsuyama Castle covers twenty-one structures that survived intact. This one did not survive, so the register created in 1996 applies instead, for works contributing to the historic landscape of Japan.

The four structures registered on December 3, 2024 were treated as a group, and the reasoning is the same for each: buildings thought to date from the founding of the castle were destroyed by war damage, and Matsuyama City rebuilt them in timber on the basis of surviving records rather than approximating them in concrete. On its own this turret would be a modest thing. As one corner of the gate complex it is what gives the Taiko Gate a flank.

What to look for

The southeast corner carries a hooded stone-drop hatch, set into the angle where the wall turns. From that point the ground in front of the Taiko Gate and the stretch running west towards the Taiko Turret are both within reach, which is the whole reason the turret sits where it does. The national database describes it as taking the line of fire covering the gate frontage and the enclosure beyond, and standing at the corner makes that description concrete.

Both outward walls, east and south, are taiko walls, built as a double skin and packed against musket fire, with square loopholes for firearms and rectangular ones for arrows. The south wall also carries paired shutter windows, hinged at the top and propped open from below.

The roof is continuous with the roof over the gate's turret storey, a ridge running north and south in Irimoya-zukuri with Hongawarabuki tiles. Because that ridge crosses the ridge of the gate at right angles, the roofs of the group interlock rather than simply meeting, and the junction is best seen from the courtyard side. Inside, no ceiling was fitted, so the roof timbers stand exposed as in the gate.

Visiting

Matsuyama Castle Taiko Gate South Adjoining Turret lies outside the ticketed area and can be seen without charge from the approach to the Honmaru courtyard and from the courtyard itself. The interior is not open to visitors. The corner with the stone-drop hatch shows best from the path below the gate, looking up and to the right as you climb.

From the upper ropeway and chair lift station at Chojagadaira, the walk by way of the Tonashimon and the Tsutsui Gate takes about 10 minutes. From the Ninomaru side, the Kuromonguchi approach climbs on stone steps and reaches the Honmaru courtyard in roughly 40 minutes. Ropeway and chair lift share a return ticket at 520 yen for adults and 260 yen for children; the keep compound beyond charges a separate 520 yen and 160 yen.

Ropeway hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with seasonal variation, and the Taiko Gate is opened and closed at set times. Photography for personal use is unrestricted; live streaming, drones and large equipment are prohibited, and commercial filming requires prior application to the Matsuyama Castle office.