Don't be fooled - it ain't the real thing. As is the case in other tourist circuses across the country, Matsushima has its own false castle. This one in particular is an adjunct to the similarly named Matsushima-jō Hotel. The interesting thing about it is that it's not terribly modern - dating from the late Taishō era (pre-1912). Otherwise though, Matsushima was not the site of an actual medieval fortress.