The Horio Build Matsue’s Moats, Roads and Town

The Horio moved their governing base from Toda to Matsue under Yoshiharu and the young heir Tadaharu. Construction began in 1607 and continued to 1611. The site already included the settlements of Suetsugu and Shirakata; the castle town expanded and rearranged this inhabited landscape.

Work on the inner moat included cutting into Ugayama. Excavated earth helped fill low ground, while quarried stone traveled by water from surrounding sources. Roads and waterways were laid out, and the Shirakata bridge was rebuilt in wood. These works connected the new castle to neighborhoods beyond its enclosures.

Warrior residences occupied districts such as Tonomachi, Horomachi and Nakahara; townspeople lived in Tenjin, Suetsugu and Shirakata. Moats separated and defended parts of this layout while also linking it through water. Later rulers altered the channels: the Kyogoku filled part of the western moat for a road, and reclamation continued under the Matsudaira. Matsue’s waterways retain the early plan together with changes made after the Horio construction.