Shikoku's foremost feudal-era castle, Matsuyama-jō was first built by Katō Yoshiaki in 1603 after he was awarded land in the Dōgo plain for his service at the Battle of Sekigahara. The original fortress featured a striking five-storey donjon, but it was rebuilt as a three-storied keep after coming under the control of Matsudaira Sadayuki in 1642. A lightning strike on New Year's Day in 1784 burnt the donjon to the ground, and construction of a replacement did not begin until 1820. Its completion did not arrive until 1854, near the end of the Meiji period, making Matsuyama-jō the "youngest" of Japan's intact feudal-era castle keeps. While neglect and World War II bombing destroyed a good number of structures, the donjon survived, and many of the castle's other structures have been rebuilt since 1966. The castle is often referred to as Iyo-Matsuyama-jō in order to avoid confusion with the smaller original castle of Bitchū-Matsuyama-jō in Okayama-ken.