Confidence
| Field | Confidence | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Castle name | 99% | Center black brush unambiguously reads 松山城 (Matsuyama-jō); top-right brush 登城記念 ("castle-climbing commemoration") matches the official Matsuyama Castle gojōin design; the four crests visible match the documented design (Katō Janome, Gamō Hidari-mitsudomoe, Matsudaira Mitsuba-aoi, Hisamatsu Hoshi-umebachi). |
| Date | 97% | Date column reads 令和七年 三月二十九日 = 29 March 2025 — clean brushwork, all characters legible. |
Identification
- Name (Japanese): 松山城 (also called 金亀城 Kinki-jō / 勝山城 Katsuyama-jō)
- Name (Romanized): Matsuyama-jō
- Type: 御城印 (gojōin / castle stamp) — specifically the 登城記念符 (Tōjō Kinen-fu) "castle-climbing certificate"
- Status: National Important Cultural Property (重要文化財) — Matsuyama is one of Japan's 12 surviving original castle keeps (現存12天守), NOT a reconstruction
- Issuance point: Matsuyama Castle keep gift shop / Honmaru ticket booth (paid castle entry)
- Location: Marunouchi, Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, Shikoku
- Date received: 令和七年三月二十九日 = 29 March 2025 (Reiwa 7)
Reading the gojōin
| Element | Reading | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 登城記念 | Tōjō Kinen — "castle-climbing commemoration" | Top right, brush |
| 松山城 | Matsuyama-jō (Matsuyama Castle) | Center, large brush |
| 蛇の目 (Janome / "snake-eye" — concentric circle) | Katō family crest — Matsuyama Castle's founder Katō Yoshiaki | Top-left, red disc |
| 左三つ巴 (Hidari-mitsudomoe) | Gamō family crest — second daimyō house | Lower right, red disc |
| 三つ葉葵 (Mitsuba-aoi / triple-leaf hollyhock) | Matsudaira family crest — Tokugawa cadet branch | Top-right area, red leaf disc |
| 星梅鉢 (Hoshi-umebachi / star-plum) | Hisamatsu family crest — final Edo-period lords (a Matsudaira branch) | Lower left, red dots in triangle |
| 令和七年 | Reiwa 7 (2025) | Left, brush |
| 三月二十九日 | 29 March | Lower left, brush |
What kind of stamp is this — tōjō kinen-fu
The 登城記念符 (Tōjō Kinen-fu) literally means "castle-climbing commemorative document" — issued by Matsuyama Castle's gift shop only to those who pay castle entry and reach the keep. Like other castle stamps it's a gojōin (御城印), but the wording tōjō — "ascending the castle" — frames the visit as an accomplished climb, similar to tōkaku-shō (登閣証) used at Osaka and other castles, and similar to tōhai (登拝) used at sacred mountains. The word choice is deliberate: ascending Matsuyama Castle's hilltop keep is genuinely a climb (the path zig-zags up Mount Katsuyama, with 8 separate gates to pass through).
Reading the four family crests — Matsuyama Castle's lord lineage
The four crests on this gojōin trace the complete daimyō lineage of Matsuyama Castle in Edo-era order:
- 加藤家 / Katō (1602–1627) — Janome (snake-eye / concentric circle)
- Katō Yoshiaki (加藤嘉明) founded the castle in 1602, having been awarded Iyo Province after fighting on the Tokugawa side at Sekigahara. Construction took 25 years.
- 蒲生家 / Gamō (1627–1634) — Hidari-mitsudomoe (left three-comma)
- Gamō Tadatomo (蒲生忠知) held the castle briefly; the family went extinct on his death without an heir.
- 松平家 / Matsudaira (1635–1871) — Mitsuba-aoi (triple hollyhock leaf)
- Matsudaira Sadayuki (松平定行) received the castle in 1635 and held it for the rest of the Edo period as a 150,000-koku domain. The Matsudaira here are a Hisamatsu-Matsudaira branch — descendants of Tokugawa Ieyasu's half-brother — and used the aoi crest by special license from the shogunate.
- 久松家 / Hisamatsu — Hoshi-umebachi (star plum)
- The original surname before the Matsudaira honorific was Hisamatsu (久松), and the family continued to use the Hoshi-umebachi as their secondary/personal crest.
About Matsuyama Castle
Matsuyama Castle was constructed 1602–1627 by 加藤嘉明 (Katō Yoshiaki) on Mount Katsuyama (勝山), a ~132 m hill in the center of modern Matsuyama. It is a 連立式天守 (renritsu-shiki tenshu / "linked compound keep") — a rare layout where the main keep is connected to three smaller turrets via covered galleries, forming a connected fortress at the summit. Only Himeji and Wakayama also have this layout.
The original keep was struck by lightning and burned in 1784, then rebuilt in 1854 — meaning the current keep is a Bakumatsu-era (late Edo) reconstruction, but importantly it is wooden and original, not a 20th-century concrete reconstruction. This is what places Matsuyama in the 現存12天守 (Genzon Jūni Tenshu / "12 surviving original castle keeps") — the only 12 castles in Japan with wooden keeps surviving from the Edo period.
The castle is reached by:
- Ropeway / chairlift from Matsuyama city center to the Honmaru
- Walking trail through the wooded hillside, passing the famed Tonashi-mon and Honmaru gates
The 12 surviving original castle keeps (現存12天守)
For collectors and castle fans, the Genzon Jūni Tenshu are the holy grail — the only 12 castles in Japan with wooden keeps surviving from the Edo period:
- 弘前城 (Hirosaki) — Aomori
- 松本城 (Matsumoto) — Nagano
- 丸岡城 (Maruoka) — Fukui
- 犬山城 (Inuyama) — Aichi
- 彦根城 (Hikone) — Shiga (National Treasure)
- 姫路城 (Himeji) — Hyōgo (National Treasure, World Heritage)
- 松江城 (Matsue) — Shimane (National Treasure)
- 備中松山城 (Bichū-Matsuyama) — Okayama
- 丸亀城 (Marugame) — Kagawa
- 松山城 (Matsuyama / Iyo) — Ehime (this stamp)
- 宇和島城 (Uwajima) — Ehime
- 高知城 (Kōchi) — Kōchi
This stamp is a milestone in any castle-collector's book.
What it's known for
- One of the 12 surviving original castle keeps — wooden, not concrete reconstruction
- 連立式天守 — rare connected-keep design (with Himeji and Wakayama)
- Cherry-blossom panorama — late March / early April; the castle grounds have ~200 cherry trees
- The famous Mount Katsuyama summit views over Matsuyama and the Seto Inland Sea