The approach to Matsuyama-Jo

Here is the approach to the castle. You can either take a scary looking chairlift up or you can climb up the mountain. We chose to climb up because it wasn't that bad of a walk and the weather was decent. Here are the huge castle walls.

Some information about the forest above, if you would like to read.
Below is the beginning of the path

BIG spiders again! They were EVERYWHERE! Below a view of the steps we'd been climbing up.

Finally, I see the castle! It's a nice one, not as big as Himeji, but this is my second favorite castle that I've visited. I would recommend it if you're in the area.


A fantastic view of Matsuyama city. Pretty sweet and we're not even to the top yet!



It's the "boobie" door again like we saw at Himeji. I'm going to keep taking photos of these things!
Below: I just thought the gutter was really cool.


Still not to the top but the view is getting better and better. This city is considered small by Japanese standards. It is the largest city on the island of Shikoku which is the least habited island next to Hokkaido (where I will be going in about a week!!!). Looks like quite a nice size from up high though. After visiting places like Osaka and Tokyo and Fukuoka though it seems quite small.