main enclosure – ページ 9 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

192.Tsunomure Castle Part3

There are many stones lying on the Main Enclosure. This is because officials are repairing the stone walls of the enclosure, which Takamasa Mori built.

Features

Is Main Enclosure being improved?

However, the Main Enclosure on the top looks different. Around the Main Enclosure there are no stone walls, but it has the Vertical Cliffs which were artificially cut, made of soil. This method had also been used in the castle before Takamasa Mori came. You will walk around the natural-like path to the enclosure (the straight path for the repair work to it should not be used).

Leaflet, © OpenStreetMap contributors

The map around the castle

The Vertical Cliffs around the Main Enclosure

The straight path for the repair work to the Main Enclosure

The path to the Main Enclosure going around the mountain

There is the observation platform on the way, where you can enjoy a great view of the Kusu area with lots of mesas or buttes, which look very beautiful.

When you arrive at the top of the Main Enclosure, you will see many stones lying on it (as of May of 2023). This is because Takamasa built stone walls only at northern side of the enclosure. The official are repairing them after they collapsed. Maybe Takamasa was also improving the Main Enclosure until he was transferred.

The stones for the stone walls being repaired

Attractions of Mori Domain

You can also visit the attractions of the Mori Domain which the Kurushima Clan established at the foot of the mountain. The lords of the domain lived in an encampment which was turned into a park. The clan also built a pond garden with a circular promenade beside a hill next to the encampment, which remains now.

The pond garden the Kurushima Clan created

There is a 7m tall monolith standing in front of the garden, called Dowa-hi or the Monument of Fairy Tales. This was not originally part of the encampment, but it was originally used as a stone for the harbor at a river nearby when the domain was thriving. The monolith was moved to the current position and reused as the monument in 1949, named after a famous writer of fairy tales, Takehiko Kurushima who was a descendant of the lord’s family.

The clan also built a tea room on stone walls, called Seihoro, on the hill, which also remains. It is said that the room was built as a substitute for a Main Tower which was not allowed to be built by the lord of the clan.

The Seihoro tea room *(licensed by ムカイ via Wikimedia Commons)*

Later History

The research of Tsunomure Castle was launched in 1993. It found that the ruins still have an example of the Ano-zumi stone walls in a good condition, which Hideyoshi’s retainers built in many areas during his unification of Japan. It also found that the ruins show the process of castles’ improvement from the Middle Ages to the Edo Period. As a result, the ruins were designated as a National Historic Site in 2005. Kusu Town promoted itself as the hometown of fairy tales and having a castle with the Ano-zumi stone walls.

The Ano-zumi stone walls of Tsunomure Castle

My Impression

When I visited the Kusu Area, I felt the area has a very unique atmosphere because it is surrounded by mountains, and the small mountains or hills inside are a little strange, which I would learn are called mesas or buttes. These natural features of the area created folk tales about its history, so the town’s nick name, the hometown of fairy tales may be related to them. Tsunomure Castle also came from the area’s features and people from the outside made it more unique. I recommend visiting the Kusu area and Tsunomure Castle Ruins if you travel around there.

The stone walls of the Third Enclosure of Tsunomure Castle

How to get There

If you want to visit there by car, it is about a few minutes drive away from Kusu IC on the Oita Expressway. There are several parking lots around the ruins (in the Third Enclosure on the mountain or in the park at the foot of the mountain…).
By public transportation, take the Oita-Kotsu bus bound for Kajiwara from JR Bungomori Station and get off at the Kami-Fushihara bus stop at the foot of the mountain. You can climb the trail to the top from there.
From Tokyo or Osaka to the Station: it may be better to rent a car from Oita Airport or Fukuoka Airport after using a plane.

That’s all. Thank you.
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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.

Leaflet, © OpenStreetMap contributors

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.

Leaflet, © OpenStreetMap contributors

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.
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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.

Leaflet|国土地理院

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”