roofed passage bridge – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

91.Shimabara Castle Part3

The castle reclaimed its appearance.

Features

Second Enclosure and Inner Moat

Consider walking to the Second Enclosure. You can go down and up the stairs from the Main Enclosure to the Second Enclosure over the dry Inner Moat. There was the roofed Passage Bridge connecting both enclosures in the past, which was the only entrance to the Main Enclosure. If you look back to the Main enclosure from somewhere around the Inner Moat, you can find the stone walls are arranged elaborately to protect the castle. The Second Enclosure is now used as the Shimabara Cultural Hall.

The former entrance of the Main Enclosure

Looking up the Main Enclosure from the bottom of the Inner Moat

Later History

After the Meiji Restoration, Shimabara Castle was abandoned and all the its buildings were demolished. The Main Enclosure once became fields and the Third Enclosure was used for schools. In 1957, the castle ruins were turned into Shimabara Castle Park. The Main Tower and the turrets were rebuilt between 1960 and 1980. The park became the new Shimabara Castle again. Shimabara City has been developing the castle as a tourist center of the city.

My Impression

When I visited Shimabara Castle, I felt both the strength of the castle and its historical atmosphere. I recommend walking in and out of the remaining stone walls to understand how wisely they were built. Shimabara City has been damaged by natural disasters such as the Mt. Unzen eruption in 1991, yet it has also received gifts from of nature such as hot springs. The city is known as a city of water. You can enjoy visiting the castle as well as food and drinks made with water.

The great and heavy stone walls of Shimabara Castle

Looking the Inner Moat from the Main Enclosure

You can glance at Mt. Unzen behind Mt. Mayuyama

How to get There

If you want to visit the ruins by car, it is about 60 minutes away from Isahaya IC on the Nagasaki Expressway.
You can park in at the parking lots for visitors in the castle.
If you want to use public transportation, it takes about 10 minutes on foot from Shimabara Station on the Shimabara Railway.
If you go there from Tokyo or Osaka, I recommend going to Nagasaki Airport by plane. After that, you can take the shuttle bus to Isahaya Station and transfer to the Shimabara Railway

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

91.Shimabara Castle Part1

A castle sharing the fate of the Shimabara Rebellion

Location and History

Matsukura Clan builds Castle as their Home base

Shimabara Castle is located in the Shimabara Peninsula, the western part of the Kyushu Region. The Arima Clan basically governed the area around the peninsula in the Middle Ages. Harunobu Arima, the lord of the clan in the late 16th Century, was known as a Christian feudal lord. Because of that, Christianity spread around the peninsula greatly. However, he was punished by the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1612. His son was also transferred to another place in 1614. After that, Shigemasa Matsukura was appointed to the lord of the Shimabara Domain by the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1616. He first lived in Hinoe Castle, where the Arima Clan lived, but soon decided to build a new castle as his home base, known as Shimabara Castle and completed in 1624.

The location of the castle

The replica of the statue of Harunobu Arima, exhibited by Arima Christian Heritage Museum, the original statue is owned by Daiunji Temple

The Shimabara Domain was a relatively a small domain which earned 43,000 koku of rice. However, the castle was said to be worth that of a domain with 100,000 koku of rice. That meant the people in the Shimabara Domain suffered high taxes and worked hard to build the castle. The castle had three enclosures in a line from the south to the north. The Main and Second Enclosures were in the Inner Moat and both were connected by only the roofed Passage Bridge called Roka-bashi. If enemies from the outside wanted to attack the Main Enclosure, they had to first enter the entrance of the Second Enclosure.

Part of Illustration of Shimabara Castle and environs with my comments, owned by Kumamoto Prefectural Library, exhibited by Shimabara Castle

High Stone Walls and Five leveled Main Tower

All the enclosures were also surrounded by zigzagging high stone walls allowing the defenders to eliminate blind spots and make a flank attack. In particular, the Main Enclosure had the Main Tower and eleven turrets. The Main Tower had five levels and was built in a typical method called Multi-storied type. Other Main Towers in other castles usually had decorations such as gables and bell-shaped windows. The Main Tower of Shimabara Castle simply had square floors diminishing towards the top with minimal roofing. This method made building the tower more efficient and also easy to protect.

The restored Multi-storied type Main Tower

Shimabara Rebellion occurs due to Matsukura Clan’s oppression

Shigemasa oppressed the people in his territory with heavy taxes to have more income. After the Tokugawa Shogunate banned people from being Christians, he tortured them if they didn’t convert. His way seemed to be loyal to the shogunate. After he died in 1630, his son, Katsuie rapidly followed in his father’s footsteps. People, including the Christians in Shimabara Peninsula, were angry and started the Shimabara Rebellion in 1637. They first attacked Shimabara Castle. They were professionally trained by the masterless warriors who were former retainers of the Arima Clan. Katsuie was not in the castle but in Edo, however, his retainers repelled the uprising army. The castle ironically proved its strength by fighting against the citizens.

The figures showing Matsukura Clan’s oppression, exhibited by *Arima Christian Heritage Museum*

Otemon Battle in Shimabara Uprising, exhibited by Shimabara Castle

The uprising people were defeated after they were besieged in Hara Castle for three months. The shogunate banned the Matsukura Clan from ruling over the Shimabara Domain. Katsuie Matsukura was executed due to his misgovernment. After that, several clans governed the domain and Shimabara Castle by the end of the Edo Period. In 1792, when the Matsudaira Clan governed, a great natural disaster known as Shimabara Taihen happened. An earthquake and eruption from Mt. Unzen caused the collapse of Mt. Mayuyama in front of it. The debris flowing from the mountain killed a lot of people and the castle was also partly destroyed by the earthquake.

Part of the folding screens of Shimabara Rebellion, owned by Asakura City Akizuki Museum, from the exhibition of Arima Christian Heritage Museum

A drawing of Shimabara Taihen, exhibited by Shimabara Castle

To be continued in “Shimabara Castle Part2”

137.Fukui Castle Part2

A park and office buildings stay together in the castle ruins.

Features

Still active Main Enclosure front gate

Now, the ruins of Fukui Castle have been used as a park and the ground for official buildings including the prefectural office. The area of the ruins is inside the Inner Moat including the Main Enclosure.

The aerial photo around the castle

The public workers commute by entering the front gate of the enclosure in the south, after crossing the Gohonjo Bridge over the Inner Moat, like the warriors of the Fukui Domain used to do. In the past, the front gate consisted of a defensive square space surrounded by two gate buildings and the stone walls, called Masugata. You can climb up to part of the remaining stone walls to look around the gate.

Going to the front gate of the enclosure by crossing the Gohonjo Bridge

The old photo of the front gate, from the signboard at the site

Climbing up to the top of the stone walls

The front gate seen from the top of the stone walls

Must-see Main Tower Base

You can walk around the inside of the Main Enclosure, but only outside the office buildings where the Main Hall was.

The ruins of the Main Enclosure are close to the office buildings

You should check out the remaining stone wall base for the Main Tower at the northwest corner of the enclosure. The base has two tiers, and the upper tier is for the large Main Tower and the small Main Tower. The stone walls look great but appear to have partially collapsed or are misaligned. This is due to the Fukui Earthquake in 1948.

The upper tier on which the large Main Tower was

The restored well, called Fuku-no-i or the Fortune Well, is still on the lower tier. In fact, some people say the name of the well may be the origin of the castle’s later name, Fukui.

Restored Gate and Bridge

At the western entrance of the Main Enclosure near the base for the Main Tower, the gate building called Yamazatoguchi-gomon and the roofed Passage Bridge called Oroka-bashi over the Inner Moat were restored recently in the original method.

The restored Yamazatoguchi-gomon Gate and Oroka-bashi Bridge

The lord of the castle passed the original bridge and gate from his residence called Gozasho outside the enclosure to the Main Hall in the enclosure to govern the domain.

The old photo of the gate and roofed Passage Bridge, from the signboard at the site

You can try walking on the restored bridge and gate as well as entering the second floor of the gate to see its interior and an exhibition for the castle.

The interior of the second floor of the Yamazatoguchi-gomon Gate

Remaining Inner Moat and Main Enclosure stone walls

How about walking around the outside of the Inner Moat as well?

The Main Enclosure seen from the outside of the Inner Moat

For example, you can see the great stone walls for the Tatsumi-Yagura Turret at the southeast corner of the Main Enclosure. It was a three-story turret which was considered the substitute for the Main Tower after the tower was burned. The Main Enclosure originally had the Main Tower or turrets for its four corners.

The stone walls of the Tatsumi-Yagura Turret

The old photo of the Tatsumi-Yagura Turret, from the signboard at the site

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