page_title: Hitobashira
section_title: Matsue Castle
hierarchical_section_title: Hitobashira / Architectural examples / Matsue Castle
caption_attribution_description: English: The keep of en:Matsue Castle. Copyright (c) 2003 David Monniaux
context_page_description: Hitobashira, practiced formerly in Japan, is a human sacrifice, buried alive under or near large-scale buildings like dams, bridges and castles, as a prayer to the gods so that the building is not destroyed by natural disasters such as floods or by enemy attacks. Hitobashira can also refer to workers who were buried alive under inhumane conditions.
context_section_description: According to legend the Matsue Castle is also said to have been constructed on a human sacrifice that was buried under the castle's stone walls. Her name has never been recorded, and nothing concerning her is remembered except that she is thought to have been a beautiful young maiden who was fond of dancing and is referred to as simply the maiden of Matsue.  After the castle was built, a law was passed forbidding any girl to dance in the streets of Matsue because the hill Oshiroyama  would shudder and the castle would shake from "top to bottom".
caption: Matsue castle keep
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