The City
The 132-metre-high Katsuyama dominates the centre of Matsuyama and on its summit stands the city's prime attraction, the castle Matsuyama-jo (daily 9am-5pm; Y350). Warlord Kato Yoshiakira began building his multiple-wing fortress in 1602, but by the time it was finished, 26 years later, he had moved to Aizu in Tohoku. Like many Japanese castles hailed as "original", the Matsuyama-jo has gone through several editions during its lifetime. The main five-storey donjon was destroyed by lightning on New Year's Day in 1784, and rebuilt two storeys shorter in 1820 - the three lesser donjons are all modern-day reconstructions. Despite this, the castle is one of the more impressive fortresses in Japan, particularly since its location provides commanding views of the city and Inland Sea. You can get up to the castle by the cable car or chairlift on the eastern flank of the hill; both cost Y210 one way. For Y750 you'll get a pink ticket for a return ride, and a green ticket for entrance to the castle. It's also possible to walk up. There are several steep routes - the main one starts just beside the cable car, at the steps up to Shinonome-jinja , also on the castle hill's east side. This picturesque shrine is famous for its Takigi festival, held every April, when No plays are performed by the light of fire torches. Other routes run up the west side of the hill, and can be combined with a visit to the Ninomaru Shiseki Teien . Whichever route you take, you'll end up at the Tonashi-mon gateway to the castle, and will emerge onto a long plateau surrounded by walls and turrets and planted with blossom trees. Inside the main donjon, climb up to the top floor for the view and, on the way down, pass through the museum with displays of calligraphy, old maps, samurai armour and some gorgeously painted screens. Heading down the western side of the hill leads to the tranquil gardens of the Ninomaru Shiseki Teien (April-Aug Mon-Sat 9am-4.30pm, Sun 9am-7pm; Jan-March & Sept-Dec daily 9am-4.30pm; Y100) - the gardens can also be approached from the road beside EPIC. Looking a bit like a giant geometry puzzle, the gardens are built on the site of the Ninomaru, the outer citadel of the castle. The pools and pathways at the front of the gardens represent the floor plan of the former structure, which succumbed to fire in 1872. To the rear, as the grounds climb Katsuyama, the design becomes more fluid, with rockeries, a waterfall and two tea-ceremony houses, one of which serves tea and okashi (a sweet cake) for Y300. At the base of the south side of the hill is the striking French-style villa, Bansui-so . Built in 1922 for Count Sadakoto Hisamatsu, the fifteenth lord of Matsuyama-jo, the villa now houses the Annex of the Prefectural Art Museum (Tues-Sun 10am-6pm; Y800). The twentieth-century Japanese art displayed inside is changed every three months, but it is the exterior of this building which is most impressive, particularly the juxtaposition of trees pruned like poodles and the wild palms on the forecourt. From the exit to Bansui-so you are well placed to start exploring the main shopping arcade of Okaido, at the entrance of which is a branch of the upmarket Mitsukoshi department store. At the end of the arcade, cross the main road and turn right into the Gintengai arcade, which eventually leads to the Shi-eki Station and Sogo department store. A couple of minutes' walk south of here, across the Iyo Tetsudo rail line, is the Shiki-do (daily 9am-5pm; Y50), an evocative recreation of the poet Masaoka Shiki's home sandwiched between his family's local temple, Shoshu-ji, and the cemetery. Inside the tiny one-storey house are some of the poet's personal effects, his writing desk and examples of his calligraphy.
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