Matsuyama Castle Entrance Porch

A Formal Entrance to the Keep

The Matsuyama Castle Entrance Porch (松山城玄関) is a timber entrance porch of 1967 in Marunouchi, Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on September 10, 2019 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a single-storey timber structure with a tiled roof and a building area of 8.9 square metres; registration number 38-0137.

A Step and Stairway

The Matsuyama Castle Entrance Porch is joined to the western part of the south side of the Entrance Tamon Turret. It consists of a formal step and a stairway up into the turret, under a rising tiled roof with a cusped gable to the front (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The step is open at the sides, and the front has a frog-leg strut on the tie beam above the posts and a slatted transom in the small wall above (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency dates it to 1967. According to Matsuyama City, it was lost by arson in 1933 and rebuilt in timber to the basic designs and specifications for nine buildings drawn up by the Ministry of Education in 1935, the work being completed on May 27, 1968.

Why It Was Registered

The Agency notes its dignified workmanship, fitting for the entrance to a keep, and registered it for its contribution to the historic landscape.

What to Look For

Look for the rising roof with its cusped gable and the frog-leg strut and slatted transom on the front (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Visiting

According to Matsuyama City, the keep is linked to the small keep and turrets by passages, and the stairs inside are steep. Opening hours, fees and access are covered on the Matsuyama Castle group page.