Case file · Haunting
Tada Kasuke's curse on Matsumoto Castle
In 1686 the farmer Tada Kasuke led a revolt against crushing rice taxes in Matsumoto and was executed; legend says his dying glare made the castle keep tilt.
1686 CE · 36.24, 137.97 · status: legend
The account
The tilt of the keep, visible until restoration in the Meiji era, was blamed on his curse. Kasuke is honoured as a martyr with a shrine.
The sceptical view
The keep leaned because its foundation piles rotted; the tilt was corrected in the 1903–13 restoration.