特徴～Features – ページ 33 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

191.Nakatsu Castle Part3

Nakatsu City planned to replace old stones with new ones to re-pile the walls because it didn’t think the stones were original. The construction was just on the point of starting.

Features

Many Shrines in Main Enclosure

There are now many shrines in the Main Enclosure such as Nakatsu Shrine, Nakatsu Grand Shrine, and Okudaira Shrine. An interesting one among them is Kii Shrine, which worships a local warlord, Shigefusa Kii who was invited but murdered in the castle by Nagamasa Kuroda, Yoshitaka’s son. A tradition says Nagamasa established the shrine because he was feared by a ghost of Shigefusa’s revenge and regretted his action.

The map around the Main Enclosure

Kii Shrine, quoted from the Tourism Nakatsu Yabakei website

*The portrait of Shigefusa Kii, owned by Tentokuji Temple (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

Third and Second Enclosures

The Third Enclosure is next to the Main Enclosure, but has become the city area.　It has the Main Gate Ruins to the center of the castle, where the past visitors had to pass one more gate, Kuro-mon to reach the Shiki-mon Gate of the Main Enclosure. You can still see part of the great stone walls of the Main Gate among the modern residences.

The map around the castle

The remaining stone walls of the Main Gate, the front part was first built by the Kuroda Clan and the back part was added by the Hosokawa Clan to make a defensive square space called Masugata

*The inside of the gate was like this illustration, the remaining part is marked white, the Kuro-mon Gate and the Shiiki-mon Gate are below it, from the signboard at the site*

The other neighboring Second Enclosure has become a park where you can see some remaining stone foundations of Samurai residences.

Fukuzawa’s Old House

Another recommendation you can visit is the old house of Yukichi Fukuzawa, about 1km away from the enclosure in the east. He bought this house when he was 16 years old and lived in it until 19. He came from a lower warrior class in the Nakatsu Domain, so the house can be seen as an example of those which lower class warriors lived in. The house is well maintained, for instance, the thatched roof of it is supported by wooden bars. A storehouse made with thick earthen walls also remains beside the house, where Yukichi studied on its second floor.

Later History

After the Meiji Restoration, Nakatsu Castle was abandoned and all the castle buildings, except for the Main Hall in the Main Enclosure, were demolished. The hall was used as a government office for a while, but was burned down in 1877 by a disturbance during the Seinan War. After that, the castle ruins were used for the several shrines and the Imitation Main Tower was built in 1964. A recent topic about the castle ruins was that there was an internal controversy among the officials of Nakatsu City when it was planning to repair the stone walls opposite the riverside in the Main Enclosure in 2002. The department in charge planned to replace old stones with new ones to re-pile the walls because it didn’t think the stones were original. The construction was just on the point of starting. However, the Cultural Heritage Division argued that the wall might be original and should be preserved. As a result, the stone walls were repaired using the old stones, as it had been discovered that they were the original ones used when Yoshitaka Kuroda first built the castle. The city announced that they are the oldest remaining stone walls in the Kyushu Region.

The repaired stone walls which use the original stones

My Impression

When I visited the current Nakatsu Castle, I was little confused that the site was mixed with the original items and many ones added later such as the Imitation Tower and the shrines. However, as I learned about history of the castle and people in Nakatsu, I understood that these items came from how they made great efforts on maintaining the castle and ruins. I also understood that running castle buildings can be difficult for private sectors which need profit to continue operating. Please give it your consideration to visit Nakatsu Castle when you travel around Nakatsu City.

The Imitation Main Tower seen from the riverside

How to get There

If you want to visit there by car, it is about a 15 minutes drive away from Sadanomi IC on the Nakatsu-Hita Road. There are several parking lots around the park.
By public transportation, it takes about 15 minutes on foot to get there from JR Nakatsu Station.
From Tokyo or Osaka to Nakatsu Station: Take the express bus to Oita Station from Oita Airport after using a plane, and get the train on the Nippo Line from the station.

Links and References

・Nakatsu Castle Official Website

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

191.中津城　その３

中津市が石垣を積み直す際、古い石を新しいものに交換しようと考えていました。その石垣が城のオリジナルであると思っていなかったからです。

特徴、見どころ

本丸内のたくさんの神社

本丸には、中津神社、中津大神宮、奥平神社などたくさんの神社があります。その中でも興味深い存在が城井神社で、この城の中で孝高の息子、黒田長政に殺された地場の戦国大名であった城井鎮房（きいしげふさ）を祀っています。言い伝えによれば、長政は鎮房の恨みによる亡霊に苦しめられ、自身の行為を後悔してこの神社を創設したとのことです。

本丸周辺の地図

城井鎮房肖像画、天徳寺蔵 (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

三の丸と二の丸

三の丸は本丸のとなりにありますが、現在では市街地となっています。ここには城の中心部に向かうための大手門の跡があります。城があったときに本丸の椎木門に至るためには、もう一つの門（黒門）も通っていく必要がありました。現代の住宅街の合い間に、大手門の立派な石垣の一部が残っています。

城周辺の地図

大手門の石垣、手前が黒田時代のもので、奥の方は細川時代に桝形空間を作るために増築されました

本丸の向こう隣りの場所、二の丸は公園になっていて、武家屋敷跡の礎石がいくらか残っています。

福沢諭吉旧居

他のお勧めの場所は、二の丸の東方約１ｋｍのところにある福沢諭吉の旧居でしょう。福沢は１６歳のときにこの家を買い、１９歳のときまで住んでいました。彼は中津藩の下級武士階級出身であるので、この家屋は当時の下級武士が住んでいた家屋の一例と言えるでしょう。この家屋はよくメンテナンスされていて、例えば茅葺の屋根は、角材によって下から支えられています。土蔵造りの倉庫も残っていて、ここの２階で福沢が勉強していたそうです。

その後

明治維新後、中津城は廃城となり、本丸の御殿を除く全ての城の建物は撤去されました。御殿はしばらくは役所として使われましたが、1877年に西南戦争が起こったときにその混乱の中で焼け落ちてしまいました。その後、城跡は神社の敷地として使われたり、1964年には模擬天守が建てられました。この城跡に関する最近のトピックは、2002年に中津市の組織内で、川沿いの反対側にある本丸石垣を修理する際に論争があったことです。担当部署は、石垣を積み直す際、古い石を新しいものに交換しようと考えていました。その石垣が城のオリジナルであると思っていなかったからです。その工事がまさに行われようとしたとき、文化財部門が石垣はオリジナルではないか、そうであれば保存されるべきだと言ってきたのです。調査の結果、石垣は黒田孝高が最初に城を築いた当時のものだと判明し、古い石をそのまま使って積み直されました。中津市は、この石垣は九州地方で最も古い現存石垣であると言っています。

私の感想

現在の中津城を訪れてみて、最初は少々違和感を覚えました。そこにはオリジナルのものもあれば、模擬天守や神社のような後の時代に加えられたものが多く混在していたからです。しかし、この城や中津の先人の歴史を学んでみると、これらの文物は城や遺跡をいかに維持していこうとする彼らの努力の結果だということがわかりました。また、継続的に利益を出す必要がある民間企業にとって、城の建物を経営していくのは大変なことだということも理解できました。もし中津市周辺を旅行されるのであれば、中津城に寄ってあげてほしいです。

ここに行くには

車で行く場合：中津日田道路の定留（さだのみ）ICから約１５分かかります。公園周辺にいくつか駐車場があります。
公共交通機関を使う場合は、ＪＲ中津駅から歩いて約１５分かかります。
東京または大阪から中津駅まで：飛行機で大分空港に行って、そこから高速バスで大分駅に行き、日豊本線の列車に乗ってください。

リンク、参考情報

・中津城公式ホームページ
・中津城（奥平家歴史資料館）、中津耶馬渓観光協会
・破壊の危機からうまれたもの -中津市の事例-、文化遺産の世界
・「人物叢書315　黒田孝高／中野等著」吉川弘文館
・「シリーズ藩物語　中津藩／三谷紘平著」現代書館
・「歴史群像１２３号、戦国の城　豊前中津城」学研
・「よみがえる日本の城２０」学研
・「日本の城改訂版第１４号」デアゴスティーニジャパン

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

191.Nakatsu Castle Part2

Basically, newer stone walls use more processed stones. However, in the case of those in Nakatsu Castle, it looks like it is the other way around.

Features

Private Company runs Imitation Main Tower

Today, the ruins of Nakatsu Castle have been developed as a tourist attraction called “Nakatsu Castle Park”. This is because the ruins have an outstanding five-level Main Tower on a corner of the stone walls in the Main Enclosure. However, the tower is an imitation, which was built at the place where another original turret had been built. A company, which the former lord of the castle, the Okudaira Clan ran, built it to boost tourism. Because of its origin, it mainly exhibits the history of the Nakatsu Domain under the clan’s rule as the Okudaira Clan Historical Museum. However, when the museum lost money, the clan sold it to another private company. This current castle is considered the only one which a private company runs, so they may approach you. If you want to know much about Yoshitaka Kuroda who was the founder of the castle, you can visit the Kuroda Kanbe Museum which Nakatsu City owns, in front of the tower.

The Imitation Main Tower of Nakatsu Castle

A view of Nakatsu River from the top of the tower

An exhibition of the Kuroda Kanbe Museum

Several kinds of Stone Walls from Kuroda and Hosokawa Periods

The historical items of the castle mainly remain in the Main Enclosure, such as the stone walls and water moats. If you look at the northern side of the stone walls, they are divided into the older part on the right and the newer one on the left. You can clearly see the joint which was the corner of the older part. Basically, newer stone walls use more processed stones. However, in the case of those in Nakatsu Castle, it looks like it is the other way around. The stones in the new left stone walls are natural while those in the older ones are more processed. The reason for it was that the founder, Yoshitaka Kuroda brought the stones from an ancient mountain castle, Tobarusan-jo nearby to build the new castle rapidly.

The aerial photo around the castle

The newer stone walls from the Hosokawa Period on the left and the older stone walls from the Kuroda Period on the right

Did the stone walls base for the tower come from the Kuroda Period?

The Main Enclosure is still beside the Nakatsu River but the concrete bulkhead with a promenade is between them now. It may be a good idea to walk on the promenade to see the river and the castle. The stone walls, which use the ancient mountain castle’s stones, lie along the riverside. They were probably built there with castle buildings on them to consider the scenery of the castle from the river. However, you can see modern residence or shrine buildings on them now, which are an interesting contrast. There are the stone walls of the Water Gate at the edge of the enclosure, which makes us understand the castle was directly connected to the river in the past.

Other stone walls from the Kuroda Period lie along the riverside

There might have been a large turret like a Main Tower on this stone wall base

Some modern residences are on the stone walls

The ruins of the Water Gate *(licensed by Mukai via Wikimedia Commons)*

There are another type of stone walls which Yoshitaka originally built opposite the riverside. They are long but not so high, built using smaller natural stones than the Hosokawa Clan’s period. They were recently repaired with the water moat in front of them, where you can walk along.

The stone walls and the water moat opposite the riverside

The Nakatsu City Historical Museum and the promenade are over there

New and Old Entrances of Main Enclosure

In addition, you can see the cut sections of the stone walls at the main entrance of the Main Enclosure with the shrine gate. This is because the entrance was built by breaking part of the stone walls in the Meiji Era and the gate was built in the Showa Era.

The front entrance of the Main Enclosure

The cut section of the stone walls, the lower part was first built by the Kuroda Clan and the upper part was added by the Hosokawa Clan

The stone walls on the other side of the entrance had once been destroyed but was restored

There are the ruins of Shiiki-mon Gate, the original main entrance, near the current one, which are still surrounded by stone walls. The gate also had a fan-shaped space for defense, surrounded by other stone walls in the back. However, the stone walls were partially removed.

The remaining part of the fan-shaped space inside the gate

The inside of the gate was like this illustration, the remaining part is marked red, from the signboard at the site

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