Ohmatsuyama Castle

Ohmatsuyama castle is behind the better known Bitchu Matsuyama Castle. It is about 700m from that castle's tenshu (donjon). Several sign posts indicate the way. On site there is only one big panel with a map of the ruins and the history of the castle. You clearly can make out the 3 big baileys,

History

The only thing we know about Ohmatsuyama castle is that it was probably built by Akiba Saburo Shigenobu in 1240. As unrest spread during the Muromachi Period, eventually much of the 3 peaks of Mt Gagyu were fortified, including the main peak where we now find the Tenjin-no-maru and the Komatsuyama peak where we find Bitchu Matsuyama Castle. This castle was the first on the mountaintop and likely abandoned for the more convenient Bitchu Matsuyama Castle in the Edo Period. Bitchu Matsuyama Castle also has the advantage in that it can be seen from the town to stand as a symbol for the domain.

Field Notes

Ohmatsuyama castle is behind the better known Bitchu Matsuyama Castle. It is about 700m from that castle's tenshu (donjon). Several sign posts indicate the way. On site there is only one big panel with a map of the ruins and the history of the castle. You clearly can make out the 3 big baileys, as well as the horikiri, separating the ninomaru and sannomaru. There is also what appears to be the remains of a well. (Furinkazan 2024)

This is the third peak of Mt. Gagyu. Ohmatsuyama Castle is a very typical mountaintop castle with a 3 main baileys along a ridge with earthworks such as embankments (dorui), horikiri trenches and side baileys (koshiguruwa). There are also a couple spots of small stone pilings to prevent erosion but no significant stone walls. This clearly sets it apart from Bitchu Matsuyama Castle. The difference between these two castles, Ohmatsuyama Castle and Bitchu Matsuyama Castle (or more properly Komatsuyama Castle), is often confused across the interwebs. The signs are clear but I suspect some less informed people simply call everything after the bridge as Ohmatsuyama Castle since there are no big buildings nor high stone walls like the honmaru (see Bitchu Matsuyama Castle - Outer Baileys for details).

Could there have been overlap between the two? Of course. The original Ohmatsuyama Castle was built in the Kamakura Period but by the time the Sengoku Period rolls around and the Amako and Mori start to make incursions into the region, the Mimura fortified the entire top of the mountain including the peaks of the Tenjin-no-maru and Komatsuyama Castle. Following the Battle of Sekigahara and shakeup of the regional domains, Mizunoya Katsumune became lord of the area and built the modern castle we know of as Bitchu Matsuyama Castle on the peak of Komatsuyama. He left the shrine at the Tenjin-no-maru alone so we have ruins of Sengoku Period fortifications around this shrine but he renovated the rest of the Mt. Gagyu mountaintop as part of his Edo Period castle. (Eric 2025)

Original Profile and history by (Furinkazan 2024), updated in 2025 by (Eric)

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Gallery

Model of the castle

Castle Profile
English Name	Ohmatsuyama Castle
Japanese Name	大松山城
Founder	Akiba Saburo Shigenobu
Year Founded	1240
Castle Type	Mountaintop
Castle Condition	Ruins only
Designations	National Historic Site
Historical Period	Pre Edo Period
Features	trenches, stone walls
Visitor Information
Access	This castle site is further behind Bitchû-Matsuyama castle, when coming from Bitchû-Takahashi station
Hours	free access
Time Required	30min on site
Location	Takahashi, Okayama Prefecture
Coordinates	34.814, 133.62289
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	2024
Contributor	Furinkazan
Admin Year Visited	Viewer Contributed, 2024
Admin Visits	November 22, 2024
Friends of JCastle
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