The last Japanese castle

A law enacted by the Tokugawa shogun in 1615, Ikkoku ichijo (meaning "One province one castle") was allowing lords to own only one castle per domain. It remained in force for 256 years, until the abolition of the domains system.

During this period, even for castle repairs it was mandatory to obtain an approval from the Shogunate. The last approval for the reconstruction of a castle tower was granted for the Matsuyama castle, which was struck by lightning and burned in 1784. The construction of the new tower began in 1820 and was finalized in 1852, thus being the last castle tower built in Japan before the feudal system was abolished by the Meiji Restoration.