九州・沖縄地方～Kyushu Okinawa Region – ページ 29 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

183.Kurume Castle Part2

The stone walls of the castle are still intact.

Features

Great Stone Walls of Main Enclosure

Today, only the Main Enclosure remains as the ruins of Kurume Castle. The ruins have no castle buildings, but its stone walls are still mostly intact. The scale of the enclosure is not so large, about 150m from north to south and about 100m from east to west. It is surprising to imagine there were seven three-story turrets all connected by two-story row-style turrets in such a limited space. There is the Sasayama Shrine which worships the Arima Clan in the enclosure.

The map around the castle

The ruins of Kurume Castle now have only the Main Enclosure

Newer Stone Walls of Southern side

The front side of the enclosure is facing the south, which is also the entrance of the shrine. The only remaining water moat is located on that side. You can see the great high stone walls with a height of 15m. The stone walls of this side are constituted of piled, aligned square cut stones, in a method called Nuno-zumi. This method is newer than the one used in the rest of the castle, so it is thought that they were built by the Arima Clan.

The high stone walls of the southern side

The three three-story turrets; Tatsumi(Southeast), Taiko(Drum) and Hitsujisaru(Southwest) Turrets used to stand on the stone walls. In particular, the Tatsumi Turret was the largest, which meant it was the symbol and the substitute of the Main Tower of the castle.

The stone walls under the Tatsumi Turret Ruins

Inside of Main Enclosure

You can enter the enclosure through the ruins of the Kabuki-gomon Gate, on the paved route turning left. The route used to pass by a defensive square space called Masugata, but it is not visible clearly since the route was paved.

In the enclosure, there is the Arima Memorial Museum which exhibits the legacy of the Arima Clan, which the Sasayama Shrine isn’t a part of. The museum is on the ruins of the Hitsujisatu and Nishishita(West) Turrets. On or beside the ruins of the other turrets, there are several monuments about the local history. For example, there is the monument for remembering the sufferers of the incident in 1871 on the ruins of the Taiko Turret, where you can see its great stone walls close nearby.

the monument for remembering the sufferers of the incident on the Taiko Turret Ruins, on the right of the picture (licensed by そらみみ via Wikimedia Commons)

A view of the high stone walls from the Taiko Turret Ruins

There is also the monument for the 56th Infantry Regiment of the Japanese Army beside the ruins of the Ushitora(Northeast) Turret, where you can see the Chikugo River.

The Older Stone Walls of Eastern side

You can also enjoy a great view of the stone walls at the eastern side of the enclosure. The surface of the stone walls is made of piled roughly processed stones with small stones filling the gaps. This method is called Uchikomi-hagi. On the other hand, their corners are made of piled processed rectangular stones alternately, following the method called Sangi-zumi. These methods are older than the one used at the southern side, so these stone walls might have been built by the Mori or Tanaka Clans.

The stone walls at a corner, made of piled processed rectangular stones alternately

There is another entrance with stone steps on this side, beside the ruins of the Tsukimi(Moon watching) Turret. It might had also been the front gate as this side had originally been the front side of the enclosure. You can see the Kurume University playground from the turret ruins, which was once a water moat of the castle.

The entrance of the eastern side beside the Tsukimi Turret Ruins

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

183.久留米城　その２

城の石垣がいまだに健在です。

特徴、見どころ

本丸に残る素晴らしい石垣

現在、久留米城跡として本丸のみが残っています。城跡には城の建物はありませんが、その石垣がいまだにほとんど元のまま残っています。この曲輪はそれ程大きくはなく、南北約１５０ｍ、東西約１００ｍの大きさです。このような限られたスペースに、７基もの三階櫓が全て二階建ての多聞櫓によってつながっていたことを想像するだけでも驚きです。今、この曲輪には有馬氏を祀る篠山神社があります。

城周辺の地図

南側の新しい石垣

この曲輪の正面は南を向いていて、神社の入口にもなっています。唯一残っている水堀がこの方角にあります。１５ｍの高さがある素晴らしい高石垣を見ることができます。この南側の石垣は、四角に成形された石を整然と積んで築かれており、布積みと呼ばれる方式です。この方式は、この城の他の石垣より新しいもので、有馬氏によって築かれたと考えられます。

この石垣の上には、３基の三階櫓（巽（たつみ）櫓、太鼓櫓、坤（ひつじさる）櫓）が立っていました。特に、巽櫓は最も大きく、城のシンボルとして天守の代わりとなっていました。

本丸の内部

舗装され左側に曲がる通路上にある冠木御門（かぶきごもん）跡を通ってこの曲輪に入っていきます。この通路の途中には、桝形と呼ばれる四角い防御のための空間があったのですが、この通路が舗装されたときに一部改変されてしまい、今でははっきりとは見ることはできません。

本丸には、篠山神社とは別に有馬記念館があり、有馬氏の事績を展示しています。この記念館は、坤櫓と西下櫓の跡地にあります。他の櫓跡の上または傍らには地元の歴史に関する記念碑があります。例えば、太鼓櫓跡には1871年藩難事件の犠牲者の追悼碑（西海忠士之碑｝があり、その周辺からは素晴らしい高石垣を間近に見ることができます。

太鼓櫓跡にある西海忠士之碑（右側 *(licensed by そらみみ via Wikimedia Commons)*

また、艮（うしとら）櫓跡の傍らには旧日本陸軍の「菊歩兵第五十六連隊記念碑」があり、その周辺からは筑後川を眺めることができます。

東側の古い石垣

本丸の東側でも、素晴らしい石垣を見ることができます。こちらの石垣は、粗く加工された石を積み、その隙間を小さい石を埋める方式で築かれました。この方式は打ち込みハギと呼ばれます。一方この石垣の角部分は、長方形に加工された石を互い違いに積む算木積みという方式で築かれています。これらの方式は、本丸の南側よりも古いものであり、これらの石垣は毛利氏か田中氏によって築かれたとも考えられます。

こちら側には月見櫓跡の傍らに、もう一つの入口が石段とともにあります。これもまた、こちら側がもともと本丸の正面だったときの正面口だったのかもしれません。櫓跡からは、かつては城の水堀であった、久留米大学のグラウンドが見えます。

「久留米城その３」に続きます。
「久留米城その１」に戻ります。

183.Kurume Castle Part1

An important castle in the Chikugo Province

Location and History

Debatable ground among Great Warlords

Kurume Castle was located in the Chikugo Province which is now the southern part of Fukuoka Prefecture, in the Kyushu Region. In the late 16th Century, during the Sengoku Period, two great warlords got the power in the northern Kyushu Region. One of them was the Otomo Clan in the Bungo Province, in the east of Chikugo Province. The other was the Ryuzoji Clan in the Hizen Provence, in the west of Chikugo Province. As a result, Chikugo Province was scrambled by the two warlords. During that period, a fortress, called Sasahara Castle, was built in the same place as the later Kurume Castle. The lords of the castle changed quite often because of the context.

The range of Chikugo Province and the location of the castle

Hidekane Mori and Arima Clan complete Castle

During the unification of Japan by Hideyoshi Toyotomi, Hidekane Mori was promoted as the lord of the castle in 1587. He renovated the castle, which was renamed Kurume Castle. However, he was fired after losing the battle of Sekigahara in 1600. Instead, the Tanaka Clan was transferred from Okazaki Castle to Yanagawa Castle in the Chikugo Province. Kurume Castle became a branch of Yanagawa Castle and was eventually abandoned in 1615 due to the Law of One Castle per Province by the Tokugawa Shogunate. The castle was revived in 1621 by the Arima Clan, the lord of the Kurume Domain, after the Tanaka Clan was also fired because they had no successors. The Arima Clan completed Kurume Castle and governed the domain until the end of the Edo Period.

The portrait of Hidekane Mori, owned by Gensaiji Temple (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Kurume Castle was located beside the Chikugo River flowing from the north to the west of the castle. The eastern side of the castle was surrounded by tripled water moats tripled such as the Chikuzen-bori Moat. The castle town was built in the south of the castle. Four enclosures divided by water moats; the Outer, Third, Second, Main Enclosures were built in a line next to the castle town towards the north. If enemies wanted to capture the castle, they had to first attack the castle town one enclosure at a time. Only the Main Enclosure was made with high stone walls while the others were made with soil. The Main Enclosure was on a hill at in the northernmost part of the castle and had the Main Hall and seven turrets to protect it. These turrets all had three stories and were connected by two-story row-style turrets, called Tamon-Yagura, which looked very spectacular.

The illustration of Kurume Castle, exhibited by *the National Diet Library of Japan*, adding my own comments

Shinto affects Domain and Castle

The governance of the Kurume Domain was generally stable in the peaceful time of the Edo Period. Shinto, one of the major religions in Japan, spread during this period. One of its main doctrines was to respect the Emperor, which led to the movement for imperialism and exclusionism. The movement eventually resulted in the one against the Tokugawa Shogunate at the end of the period. Many Shinto believers lived in Kurume, and communicated with others in other areas. For example, Hikokuro Takayama, who was a famous loyal supporter of the Emperor, visited Kurume three times and died there in 1793. Maki Izumi, who was the priest of the Kurume Suitengu Shrine, joined the Kinmon Incident in Kyoto in 1864.

The statue of Hikokuro Takayama in Kyoto (taken by あじのすけ from photoAC)

However, the Kurume Domain didn’t play a major role in the Meiji Restoration during which the New Government defeated the shogunate. This is because the domain had an internal conflict between its supporters. The domain even had complains about the New Government changing its policy to open the country. The government punished the lord of the domain and occupied Kurume Castle in 1871, which was the last time the castle was occupied.

The old photo of Kurume Castle *(licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

To be continued in “Kurume Castle Part2”