Ropeway and chairlift
Up the hill.
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Matsuyama Castle crowns Mount Katsuyama in the middle of Matsuyama, the largest city on the island of Shikoku, in Ehime Prefecture, about 2 km from Matsuyama Station and 67 km south of Hiroshima in a straight line, across the Seto Inland Sea. It is one of twelve castles in Japan that still have their original keep. The warlord Kato Yoshiaki began the castle in 1602 and it was completed in 1627. The present keep was rebuilt in 1852 after lightning struck the earlier one. Many of the gates, small turrets and walls around it also survive, and the castle has been a National Historic Site since 1952. Tiers of curving stone walls climb the hillside to a white keep linked by roofed walls to smaller turrets, forming a tight fortified courtyard. From the summit the city spreads out below, with the Seto Inland Sea on one side and the mountains of Shikoku on the other. A ropeway and a single-seat chairlift run up most of the hill, followed by a short walk, and footpaths also climb up from the town. In early April the grounds fill with cherry blossom and picnics. The old hot spring of Dogo Onsen is about 2 km away.
Up the hill.
Curving tiers.
City and sea.
Mount Katsuyama, Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, Shikoku
By ropeway, chairlift or on foot.
Yes, about 2 km away.