If you have time, consider walking to the remaining Outer Moat from the Main Enclosure. If you walk along the edge of the enclosure, you will see the long line of the stone walls. Some of them were recently restored including the stone wall base of the Southwestern Corner Turret. The original appearance of the castle is returning little by little with the restoration. The Outer Moat is still filled with water and is over 50m wide. It can remind us that the castle was originally protected by many water moats and waterways.
The aerial photo around the castle
The long stone walls of the Main EnclosureThe restored stone wall base of the Southwestern Corner TurretThe remaining Outer Moat
Later History
After the Meiji Restoration, Saga Castle was used as the Saga Prefectural Office. That’s why a battle in the Saga Rebellion occurred there. After the rebellion, the surviving Main Enclosure was used as schools. However, the Main Hall was demolished in 1920 while the residential room for the lord was moved to another park. The remaining Shachi-no-mon Gate was designated as an Important Cultural Property in 1957. In 1989, Saga Prefecture decided to restore the Main Hall as a historical museum. After the excavation and research. The official part of the hall, called Omote, was mainly restored combined with the residential room for the lord which returned to its original position. The Main Hall reopened as the Saga Castle History Museum in 2004.
The old photo of the original Main Hall in the Meiji Era (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)The inside of Shachi-no-mon GateThe Main Hall has become the Saga Castle History MuseumThe miniature models of the remaining or restored structures in the Main Enclosure, exhibited by the Saga Castle History Museum
My Impression
Saga Prefecture is trying to show what roles the Saga Domain had in the end of the Edo Period, in the restored Main Hall. There are also other attractions like the stone wall base for the Main Tower. If you compare these structures, you may find the functions of the castle have been changing. The water moats were entirely for defense. The Main Tower added to the castle its authority. The Main Hall was built for governing and residence. They composed the wide variety of functions at Saga Castle.
The Outer Moat for defenseThe Main Tower stone wall base showing authorityThe Main Hall for governing
How to get There
If you want to visit the ruins by car, it is about 20 minutes away from Saga-Yamato IC on the Nagasaki Expressway. You can park in the parking lots for visitors in the Main Enclosure. If you want to use public transportation, you can take the Saga City Bus on the Sagajo-ato Line from JR Saga Station and get off at the Sagajo-ato bus stop. To get to Saga Station from Tokyo or Osaka: Take the limited express from Hakata Station after using the Shinkansen super express or by plane.
Its Main Enclosure restored like it was at the end of Edo Period.
Features
Remaining Front Gate of Main Enclosure
Today, the ruins of Saga Castle mostly became the area for the official buildings such as the Saga Prefectural Office. The Outer Moat still surrounds the area, but other water moats, such as the Inner Moat, were reclaimed. The Main Enclosure, which survived the Saga Rebellion, has mainly been developed as a historical park. The front gate of the enclosure, called the Shachi-no-mon, is one of the few remaining castle buildings at the site. When you pass through the gate, you can see several bullet holes from the rebellion on the columns and doors. These are physical signs of the reality of the battle during the rebellion.
The aerial photo around the castle
The remaining front gate of the Main EnclosureEntering the gateAre these smalls holes on the column from gun shots during the Saga Rebellion?
Restored Main Hall of Main Enclosure
Inside the gate, The Main Hall, which Naomasa rebuilt, was partly restored recently in its original form. In front of the entrance, there are some actual objects and replicas of the cannons which the Saga Domain imported from the West at the end of the Edo Period. The cannons the domain itself manufactured unfortunately do not remain. If some of them were still in existence, they would definitely have become some of Japan’s historical treasures.
The entrance of the restored Main HallOne of the imported cannons, exhibited in front of the entranceThe interior of the Main Hall
The interior of the hall is very gorgeous, including the large room with 320 tatami mats. There are also exhibitions introducing the achievements of the domain. For example, the miniature model of the reverberating furnace is exhibited to make visitors easily understand that the domain manufactured iron. At the back area of the hall, the residential room for Naomasa Nabeshima called Gozama, was also restored using the original roof tiles and columns. The panel of his life-sized photo is placed at the same position as he sat, so that visitors can picture how he used the room.
The large room of the Main HallThe miniature model of the reverberating furnacethe residential room for the lordThe panel of Naomasa’s life-sized photo
Large scale Stone wall base for Main Tower
Near the restored hall, the stone wall base for the Main Tower is still there. The details of the tower are still not clear because it was burned down much earlier without particular records about it. However, you can imagine the tower would have been rather large from the scale of the base. Historians speculate the tower may have looked like that of Kokura Castle based on their scales and tradition. You can climb up to the top of the base where you can enjoy a view of the Main Enclosure, especially the Main Hall.
The stone wall base for the Main TowerClimbing up to the top of the baseA view of the Main Hall from the topA view of the base from above
The Saga Domain contributed to the modernization of Japan.
Location and History
Nabeshima Clan develops Castle as Home Base
Saga Castle was located in what is now Saga City, the prefectural capital of Saga Prefecture. The castle was originally named Muranaka Castle and built by the Ryuzoji Clan which was a great power in the 16th Century during the Sengoku Period. However, the power of the clan decreased after it was defeated by the Shimazu Clan in the Battle of Okita-nawate in 1584. Instead, the Nabeshima Clan, a senior vassal of the Ryuzoji Clan, got the power and was finally assigned as the lord of the Saga Domain by the Tokugawa Shogunate. The Nabeshima Clan improved Muranaka Castle sometime in the early 17th Century, when it was renamed Saga Castle.
The location of the castle
The portrait of Naoshige Nabeshima, the founder of the Saga Domain, owned by Nabeshima Houkoukai (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)
The castle was built in the riverside area on the Saga Plain. The castle mainly consisted of the Main, Second and Third Enclosures, which were surrounded together by the large Outer Moat. The Main and Second Enclosures were connected directly in the southeastern part of the castle, separated from the Third Enclosure by the Inner Moat. Only the Main Enclosure was surrounded by stone walls, but others were surrounded by earthen walls. The Main Enclosure also consisted of the Main Tower, but its details are uncertain, as most of the castle buildings were burned down by a great fire in 1726. After that, the center of the castle was at the Main Hall on the Second Enclosure. However, it was burned down as well due to another significant fire in 1835.
The illustration of Saga Caste, from the signboard aft the site, adding my commentsThe Main Enclosure including the Main Tower and Main Hall, featured in the illustration above
Naomasa Nabeshima modernizes Saga Domain
Much focus was on the Saga Domain and Saga Castle at the end of the Edo Period. The domain had been responsible for the police escort in Nagasaki which was the only official international port in Japan at that time. However, they failed and allowed a British ship, whose crew started a riot in the port in 1808, known as the Phaeton Incident. After that, the domain promoted its modernization led by the 10th lord, Naomasa Nabeshima. He governed the domain from the new Main Hall in the Main Enclosure, rebuilt in 1837. Under his leadership, the domain imported the latest cannons from the West and began to produce their own cannons themselves. Surprisingly, they were successful at it for the first time in Japan, which was before the arrival of Matthew Perry’s fleet from the U.S. in 1853. The Tokugawa Shogunate asked Naomasa to provide the domestic cannons for Shinagawa Batteries in Edo Bay which were prepared for the second arrival of Perry. The domain offered 50 cannons.
The statue of Naomasa Nabeshima at the ruins of Saga CastleThe restored Main Hall of the Main EnclosureOne of the replicas of the imported cannons at the ruins of Saga CastleThe ruins of Shinagawa batteries
Saga Domain was relied on due to their modern military power by both the Tokugawa Shogunate and the New Government during the Meiji Restoration. The domain chose to support the New Government, becoming one of the four powerful domains including the Satsuma, Choshu and Tosa. It is said that one reason that the New Government defeated the shogunate was the strong cannons the Saga Domain imported or made. Naomasa became one of the most important politicians at the beginning of the Meiji Era until he died in 1871. Naomasa also promoted his retainer, Shinpei Eto, to another important position in the government before he retired. Shinpei tried to bring the latest social systems from the West – such as education, justice and the idea of a parliamentary system – to Japan to help modernize the country. He has often been recognized as the father of the modern Japanese judicial system.
A picture drawing a battle between New Government Army and the shogunate (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)The portrait of Shinpei Eto, from a book called “Eto Nanpaku vol.1” (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)
Castle is burned during Saga Rebellion
However, lost power and authority to other politicians from Satsuma and Choshu in the political strife in 1873. He returned to Saga, asking for the launch of the parliament by democratic election to form a government. The government leader from Satsuma, Toshimichi Okubo, did not allow Shinpei’s agenda. It has been even said that he feared and envied Shinpei’s excellent abilities which might have overpowered him. Toshimichi intentionally spread the information as if Shinpei was planning to rebel against the government. He also sent his troops to Saga to force Shinpei along with his supporters to fight, known as the Saga Rebellion in 1874. Shinpei was defeated by the government, and subsequently put to death without judicial proceedings by Toshimichi, who ruled as a dictator. Saga Castle was one of the battle locations of the rebellion; unfortunately, most of the castle was burned down, again due to fire, during the battle.
The portrait of Toshimichi Okubo (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons) The Ukiyoe painting drawing the Saga Rebellion (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)
