Matsumoto Castle, originally called Fukashi Castle, is unusual among Japanese fortresses in that it is built on flat land beside a swamp, rather than being on a mountain or between rivers. The lack of natural defenses meant that this castle had to be extremely well-constructed in order to protect the people living inside.
For that reason, the castle was surrounded by a triple moat and extraordinarily high, strong stone walls. The fortress included three different rings of fortifications; an outer earthen wall almost 2 miles around that was designed to deaden cannon fire, an inner ring of residences for the samurai, and then the main castle itself.
Shimadachi Sadanaga of the Ogasawara clan built Fukashi Castle on this site between 1504 and 1508, during the late Sengoku or "Warring States" period. The original fortress was taken by the Takeda clan in 1550, and then by Tokugawa Ieyasu (the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate).
After Japan's reunification, Toyotomi Hideyoshi transferred Tokugawa Ieyasu to the Kanto area and awarded the Fukashi Castle to the Ishikawa family, who began construction on the present castle in 1580. Ishikawa Yasunaga, the second daimyo, built the primary donjon (central building and towers) of Matsumoto Castle in 1593-94.
During the Tokugawa Period (1603-1868), several different daimyo families controlled the castle, including the Matsudaira, Mizuno, and more.
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