2022年8月 – ページ 4 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

89.Saga Castle Part3

The functions of the castle changed.

Features

Remaining Outer Moat

If you have time, consider walking to the remaining Outer Moat from the Main Enclosure. If you walk along the edge of the enclosure, you will see the long line of the stone walls. Some of them were recently restored including the stone wall base of the Southwestern Corner Turret. The original appearance of the castle is returning little by little with the restoration. The Outer Moat is still filled with water and is over 50m wide. It can remind us that the castle was originally protected by many water moats and waterways.

The aerial photo around the castle

The long stone walls of the Main Enclosure

The restored stone wall base of the Southwestern Corner Turret

Later History

After the Meiji Restoration, Saga Castle was used as the Saga Prefectural Office. That’s why a battle in the Saga Rebellion occurred there. After the rebellion, the surviving Main Enclosure was used as schools. However, the Main Hall was demolished in 1920 while the residential room for the lord was moved to another park. The remaining Shachi-no-mon Gate was designated as an Important Cultural Property in 1957. In 1989, Saga Prefecture decided to restore the Main Hall as a historical museum. After the excavation and research. The official part of the hall, called Omote, was mainly restored combined with the residential room for the lord which returned to its original position. The Main Hall reopened as the Saga Castle History Museum in 2004.

The old photo of the original Main Hall in the Meiji Era *(licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

The Main Hall has become the Saga Castle History Museum

The miniature models of the remaining or restored structures in the Main Enclosure, exhibited by *the Saga Castle History Museum*

My Impression

Saga Prefecture is trying to show what roles the Saga Domain had in the end of the Edo Period, in the restored Main Hall. There are also other attractions like the stone wall base for the Main Tower. If you compare these structures, you may find the functions of the castle have been changing. The water moats were entirely for defense. The Main Tower added to the castle its authority. The Main Hall was built for governing and residence. They composed the wide variety of functions at Saga Castle.

The Main Tower stone wall base showing authority

How to get There

If you want to visit the ruins by car, it is about 20 minutes away from Saga-Yamato IC on the Nagasaki Expressway.
You can park in the parking lots for visitors in the Main Enclosure.
If you want to use public transportation, you can take the Saga City Bus on the Sagajo-ato Line from JR Saga Station and get off at the Sagajo-ato bus stop.
To get to Saga Station from Tokyo or Osaka: Take the limited express from Hakata Station after using the Shinkansen super express or by plane.

Links and References

・Saga Castle History Museum

That’s all. Thank you.
Back to “Saga Castle Part1”
Back to “Saga Castle Part2”

89.佐賀城　その３

城の役割は変わっていきます。

特徴、見どころ

今に残る外堀

お時間があれば本丸から、まだ残っている外堀の方に歩いてみてはいかがでしょう。本丸の端まで歩いて行くと、石垣のラインがずっと続いているのが見えます。このうちの一部は、西南隅櫓台石垣とともに最近になって復元されたものです。これらの復元により、城の本来の姿が少しずつ甦りつつあります。外堀は今でも水に満たされていて、５０ｍ以上の幅があります。この風景を見ていると、この城はもともと多くの堀や水路によって守られていたのだと改めて認識します。

城周辺の航空写真

その後

明治維新後、佐賀城は佐賀県庁舎として使われました。そのため、佐賀の乱ではここが戦場となったのです。佐賀の乱が終わってからは、焼け残った本丸は校舎として使われました。しかし、本丸御殿は1920年に解体されてしまい、城主の居間は他の公園に移設されました。その後も残っていた鯱の門は、1957年に重要文化財に指定されました。1989年、佐賀県は発掘と調査研究を行った後御殿を復元し、歴史博物館として活用することを決定しました。御殿のうち、表と呼ばれる公の政務を行う場所が主に復元され、元の場所に戻された城主の居間と組合わされました。御殿は、2004年に佐賀城本丸歴史館として再度公開されました。

オリジナルの本丸御殿の古写真、明治時代 *(licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

私の感想

佐賀県は、復元された本丸御殿をもって、佐賀藩が江戸時代末期においてどのような役割を果たしてきたか示そうとしています。この城跡には、他にも天守台石垣のような見どころがあります。これらを比べてみると、城の役割というのが変化してきたということがわかります。水で満たされた堀は完全に防御のためでした。天守はそれに権威を付け加えました。そして、御殿は統治と居住のために作られたのです。これらにより、佐賀城には幅広い機能が備わったのだと思います。

ここに行くには

車で行く場合：長崎自動車道の佐賀大和ICから約２０分のところです。本丸にある駐車場に停めることができます。
公共交通機関を使う場合は、ＪＲ佐賀駅から佐賀市営バスの佐賀城跡線に乗って、佐賀城跡バス停で降りてください。
東京または大阪から佐賀駅まで：新幹線か飛行機を使って博多駅に行き、そこから特急に乗ってください。

リンク、参考情報

・佐賀県立　佐賀城本丸歴史館
・「よみがえる日本の城２１」学研
・「幕末維新と佐賀藩～日本西洋化の原点」中公新書

これで終わります。ありがとうございました。
「佐賀城その１」に戻ります。
「佐賀城その２」に戻ります。

89.Saga Castle Part2

Its Main Enclosure restored like it was at the end of Edo Period.

Features

Remaining Front Gate of Main Enclosure

Today, the ruins of Saga Castle mostly became the area for the official buildings such as the Saga Prefectural Office. The Outer Moat still surrounds the area, but other water moats, such as the Inner Moat, were reclaimed. The Main Enclosure, which survived the Saga Rebellion, has mainly been developed as a historical park. The front gate of the enclosure, called the Shachi-no-mon, is one of the few remaining castle buildings at the site. When you pass through the gate, you can see several bullet holes from the rebellion on the columns and doors. These are physical signs of the reality of the battle during the rebellion.

The aerial photo around the castle

The remaining front gate of the Main Enclosure

Are these smalls holes on the column from gun shots during the Saga Rebellion?

Restored Main Hall of Main Enclosure

Inside the gate, The Main Hall, which Naomasa rebuilt, was partly restored recently in its original form. In front of the entrance, there are some actual objects and replicas of the cannons which the Saga Domain imported from the West at the end of the Edo Period. The cannons the domain itself manufactured unfortunately do not remain. If some of them were still in existence, they would definitely have become some of Japan’s historical treasures.

One of the imported cannons, exhibited in front of the entrance

The interior of the hall is very gorgeous, including the large room with 320 tatami mats. There are also exhibitions introducing the achievements of the domain. For example, the miniature model of the reverberating furnace is exhibited to make visitors easily understand that the domain manufactured iron. At the back area of the hall, the residential room for Naomasa Nabeshima called Gozama, was also restored using the original roof tiles and columns. The panel of his life-sized photo is placed at the same position as he sat, so that visitors can picture how he used the room.

The miniature model of the reverberating furnace

Large scale Stone wall base for Main Tower

Near the restored hall, the stone wall base for the Main Tower is still there. The details of the tower are still not clear because it was burned down much earlier without particular records about it. However, you can imagine the tower would have been rather large from the scale of the base. Historians speculate the tower may have looked like that of Kokura Castle based on their scales and tradition. You can climb up to the top of the base where you can enjoy a view of the Main Enclosure, especially the Main Hall.

To be continued in “Saga Castle Part3”
Back to “Saga Castle Part1”