Cloud Museum on the Hill

About

Standing at the southern foot of Matsuyama Castle, this facility was built as the centerpiece of Matsuyama City's urban development concept centered on Ryotaro Shiba's novel Clouds Above the Hill, known as the "Clouds Above the Hill Field Museum" initiative. The building was designed by architect Tadao Ando. Construction began in December 2004 and finished in November 2006, and the museum opened on April 28, 2007. It rises four stories above a basement level on a triangular plan, with ramps connecting the floors, and has a total floor area of about 3,123 square meters. The novel Clouds Above the Hill follows the lives of three people from Matsuyama — brothers Yoshifuru and Sanenobu Akiyama and the poet Masaoka Shiki — tracing Japan's growth into a modern nation during the Meiji era.