Matsue Castle
松江城35°28′ N 133°03′ ECastle
Matsue Castle suits anyone who wants to climb an original keep listed as a National Treasure, and you carry your shoes in a bag up the steep wooden stairs.
Photo 島根県 · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 and others, credited in the gallery
Visiting with care · Open to visitors
- Take off your shoes at the keep door and carry them in the bag provided
- Park bicycles in the bike park behind the tourist office
- Motorcycles enter the grounds only from Inari Bridge
- Walk the keep's wooden floors and steep stairs slowly and keep to the marked route
- Leave the bike in the bike park and walk the grounds
Matsue Castle's keep is a National Treasure. It stands above moats that still circle the old samurai quarter, with Shiomi Nawate on the north side. Visitors leave their shoes at the door and climb in socks.
The keep opens at 8:30 every day of the year and closes at 18:00 in summer and 17:00 in winter. Adults pay ¥1,200 from 1 July 2026, and a ten-day web ticket for ¥1,760 adds two other sites tied to Lafcadio Hearn and samurai life. Bikes go in the bike park behind the tourist office.
Quick answers about Matsue Castleよくある質問
How much does Matsue Castle cost?
Adult entry to Matsue Castle's keep costs ¥1,200 from 1 July 2026, and primary and junior high pupils go free.
Can you visit Matsue Castle?
Open to visitors. Take off your shoes at the keep door and carry them in the bag provided. Park bicycles in the bike park behind the tourist office. Motorcycles enter the grounds only from Inari Bridge.
What are the opening hours of Matsue Castle?
Matsue Castle keeps these hours: Mon–Sun 08:30–17:00.
How should you behave at Matsue Castle?
At Matsue Castle: Walk the keep's wooden floors and steep stairs slowly and keep to the marked route. Leave the bike in the bike park and walk the grounds.
Within 12 km
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