After the incident in 1871, Kurume Castle was abandoned. All the buildings of the castle were demolished or sold. Even the stone walls of the Main Enclosure were sold and about to be taken out. However, local volunteers were worried and bought them back. That’s why we can still see the great stone walls as the castle ruins. As a result, the Sasayama Shrine was established in the Main Enclosure in 1877. The ruins have been a Prefectural Historic Site of the Fukuoka Prefecture since 1983.
Sasayama ShrineThe stone walls of the Tatsumi Turret
My Impression
Let me tell you about the other attractions in other places related to the Kurume Domain. The lord of the domain, like the others, possessed two residences, one in Kurume and one in Edo. The Suitengu Shrine was transferred from Kurume to the main residence in Edo. The shrine was open to the public and became very popular. This practice was rare at that time. Since then, the shrine has been a popular attraction in Tokyo.
Arima’s main residence in Edo, drawn on the right in a Ukiyoe painting, attributed to Hiroshige Utagwa the Second, exhibited by the National Diet Library of JapanThe present Suitengu Shrine in Tokyo (licensed by tak1701d via Wikimedia Commons)
Yoriyasu Arima, the 15th lord of the clan, promoted sports such as horse race and professional baseball in the 20th Century. A major horse race in Japan called Arima Kinen was named after his contribution.
Yoriyasu Arima (licensed by tak1701d via Wikimedia Commons)
How to get There
If you want to visit the ruins by car, it is a few minutes away from Kurume IC on the Kyushu Expressway. You can park in the parking lots for visitors below the eastern side of the Main Enclosure. That space used to be the Mikan-maru or the Mandarin Enclosure. If you want to use public transportation, it takes about 20 minutes on foot from the Kurume Station. To get to Kurume Station from Tokyo or Osaka:Take the Sanyo Shinkansen super express or fly to Hakata Station and from there take the Kyushu Shinkansen super express or the limited express.
The entrance to the parking lotThe parking lot at the Mikan-maru Enclosure
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)
