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The starkly black donjon of Matsumoto's "Crow Castle" (烏城) was built in 1593, though its origins date back earlier in the Senboku period to the construction of a fort at the site in 1504. The castle was the home of the feudal lords of the Matsumoto Han throughout the Edo period, but was nearly dismantled after being sold at auction following the Meiji Restoration. It is now one of four original castles listed as a National Treasure in Japan. The goten (residence) of the local daimyō once sat in the open area of the Hon-maru in front of the castle, but it burnt down in a fire in 1727. The first and secondary gates of the Kuro-mon - torn down in 1872 - were reconstructed in 1960 and 1990, and a third gate, the Taiko-mon, was rebuilt in 1999.
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