Bitchu Matsuyama Castle — Attraction in Takahashi

First tip: If you don't like walking or taking stairs up and downhill, either prepare to take a long time or just skip this castle. Even from the closest parking lot, it's a pretty intense hike up, and strain on the knees down. Second tip: Check the website to see if the shuttle bus is running or if you can drive up to the small lot. Prepare your timing accordingly.

I visited today, a weekday, and was able to drive to the top parking lot where I managed to snag the last available spot. The staff are super friendly. They coordinate with walkie-talkies up and down, so you don't have to cross anyone on the narrow, windy road. They also welcomed me, gave me a flyer and showed me to the trailhead. There are toilets at the parking lot and at the top of the staircase, before the castle. The parking lot has vending machines in case you need to stock up on some drinks before heading off on an intense hike up.

Once you've made it up and have recovered your breath, take your time exploring the castle grounds and the inside of the castle itself, along with the views. Dont forget to pet the neko-chan (cat) mascot before starting the walk back down.

The entrance fee was only 500yen. Considering the parking was free, this has got to be one of the cheaper castles I have visited. I had a wonderful experience and would love to come back maybe in colder months to try to see the castle surrounded...

Bitchu Matsuyama castle, famously known as the castle in the clouds, is also one of the 12 original castles in Japan, sits at more than 400m on the mountain top, making it the tallest castle in Japan. But because of this, getting to the castle is no easy feat.

Unless you wish to take almost 2 hours journey on foot from the train station, the easiest would be booking a shared taxi at the tourist information centre (located at Bitchu Takahashi Station) which will take you to one of the upper parking lots in the mountain, after which it’ll be a 20 min hike to the castle grounds.

The other method would be to take a bus from Bitchu Takahashi Station to the castle trail where it’ll be another hour’s hike to the top.

The castle itself isn’t very impressionable, being very modest in size, in fact probably the smallest castle in Japan (or at least we have seen so far), and isn’t as ornate or grand as the others.

However, at that height it does offer a panoramic view of the mountain range and the city below, but then again there are many other sights which also offer spectacular views, if not better.

The autumn foliage is also not as spectacular as other attractions we’ve seen and unfortunately even the charms of the current lord of the castle, Sanjuro the cat, wouldn’t be enough to...

This is one of the so called “12 genzon-tenshukaku”, roughly translated as “original castle keep”. These 12 castle keeps were built before or during the Edo period, and are not modern reconstructions like the Osaka or Nagoya castles.

This castle is famous for the castle keep but the current resident of the castle, Sanjurō, is probably more famous than the castle itself (see photos!).

The displays inside are all in Japanese and if you’re a foreigner, you may struggle to understand the castle’s history and construction.

I walked from Bicchu Takahashi station, and it took about half an hour to walk to the start of the climb to the castle. Yes, you read that right, it is a proper “climb” up a gradual but continuous uphill slope. You will need to have decent footwear if you want to walk to the castle from the bottom. It took me about twenty minutes to walk the mile or so but then I am reasonably fit. If you are not fit or have health issues, just take the cab from the station.

One thing I was not told when purchasing the entrance ticket for the castle (¥500) was that there is a combination ticket for the castle, the buke-yashiki (2 of them) and Raikyu-Ji temple for ¥1,000, which saves you ¥400 compared to buying all three entrance...