stone wall – ページ 11 – 日本200名城バイリンガル (Japan's top 200 castles and ruins)

185.Karatsu Castle Part2

The castle is a modern tourist attraction.

Features

Great looking Imitation Main Tower

Today, Karatsu Castle is open to the public as a modern tourist facility. If you visit the castle site, you will first see the five-layer Imitation Main Tower on the mountain. It is actually a modern building, but its appearance looks like a Main Tower with a popular style when the castle was first built. It is still uncertain if the castle had a Main Tower, however, the tower looks great.

The aerial photo around the castle

If you drive to the castle site, you can park beside the estuary of Matsuura-gawa River. Crossing the road from the parking lot, you will be at the entrance of the castle. You can see the great stone walls of the Second Enclosure on the left, where the government main hall was in the past and a school is now.

A view of the Imitation Main Tower from the parking lot

Climbing on Top, Enjoying great views

Visitors usually go to the center of the castle from the ruins of Sakaguchi-mon Gate. You will climb on the long stone steps to the Secondary Enclosure. The enclosure has the Masugata Entrance which has a square space and is surrounded by stone walls for defense. The enclosure is next to the Main Enclosure where you can look up the stone wall base for the Main Tower including the Imitation Main Tower. You can also enter the Main Enclosure through the restored Main Enclosure Turret Gate.

The long stone steps from the ruins of Sakaguchi-mon Gate

Looking up the remaining stone wall base and Imitation Main Tower

Alternatively, you can go to the Main Enclosure more easily from the foot of the mountain by using the elevator. This is because the castle is now developed as a modern facility. The Imitation Main Tower is used as a historical museum and observation platform. Inside the tower, you can learn more about the history of the castle and the culture of Karatsu City.

The Imitation Tower used as the historical museum and observation platform

On the top floor, you can enjoy a great 360-degree view of the city. For example, A beautiful pine forest along the beach can be seen over the estuary of Matsuura-gawa River in the east. It is known as Nijino-Matsubara or the Rainbow Pine Forest which Hitotaka Terasawa developed. In fact, the mountain you are standing was connected to the beach before the castle was built. You can also see a view of Genkai-nada Sea in the north, the city area in the south, and the former castle area along the beach to the west.

A view including the Rainbow Pine Forest in the east

The Second Enclosure along the beach in the west

The city area and Matsuura-gawa River in the south

Walking around to see what castle was like

If you want to see more about what Karatsu Castle was like in the past, how about walking around the present castle? For example, you can walk along the foot area of the mountain along the coast. This area is called the Belt Enclosure where some turrets on the stone walls were built to prevent attacks from the sea. The stone walls remain and some plaster walls were restored recently on them. You can see these stone walls stand by the shore and they protected the castle strongly.

The Belt Enclosure at foot of the mountain

You can also walk from the mountain to the west along the beach. The area is called the Second Enclosure where many warriors’ houses were built. The area was turned into the city area, but you can see the long stone walls along the enclosure remain. You will also see the water moat dividing the Second and Third Enclosures and the restored Drum Tower at the Second Gate Ruins.

The long stone walls along the Second Enclosure

The moat between the Second and Third Enclosures

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

185.Karatsu Castle Part1

The castle the Terasawa Clan built

Location and History

Area prospered with sea transportation

Karatsu Castle is located in the northwestern part of Kyushu Island, which is now Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture. The area of the city faces Genkai-nada Sea between Japan and Korea. Because of this reason, the area prospered with sea transportation including overseas trade. For example, there was Matsura Province with the port accepting the envoys from overseas nearly 2000 years ago. A warriors’ group, known as the Matsura Group, was very active using navy forces and sometimes pirates in the Middle Ages. In 1588, the ruler, Hideyoshi Toyotomi issued the Act to Ban the Piracy to control sea transportation. After that, Hideyoshi’s retainer, Hirotaka Terasawa was sent to this area to govern it. He was an excellent practical person who supported the military logistics when Hideyoshi sent large troops from Nagoya Castle near his area to Korea.

The location of the castle

Hirotaka Terasawa built Castle

Hirotaka eventually supported the Tokugawa Shogunate and became the founder of the Karatsu Domain. He also built his new home base, Karatsu Castle between 1602 and 1608. The center of the castle was built on Mitsushima-yama Mountain beside the estuary of Matsuura-gawa River. Hirotaka changed the route of the river to place the mountain and other enclosures in a line on the ground like a peninsula. The mountain was the top of the ground towards the sea. That meant enemies were not able to attack the center from the ground easily. The center was also surrounded by stone walls along the sea. Some turrets were built on the stone walls, which were probably used for monitoring the sea. Some sea ports such as Funairi-mon Gate were also built beside the estuary. On the top of the mountain, the stone wall base for the Main Tower was built. However, it is thought that the Main Tower was not built because there has been no evidence of this.

part of the illustration of around Karatsu Castle in Hizen Province, in the Edo Period , exhibited by the National Archives of Japan

The remaining stone walls of Karatsu Castle

Terasawa Clan fired after Shimabara Rebellion

Hirotaka was also given a new detached territory in the area called Amakusa, in the western part of Kyushu Island by the shogunate due to his contribution. However, this caused the Terasawa Clan’s misfortune. There were a lot of masterless warriors called Ronin who were former retainers of the Konishi Clan who were fired by the shogunate. There were also many Christians which the shogunate banned people from becoming. Hirotaka oppressed both of them in accordance with the shogunate’s instructions. As a result, Shimabara Rebellion, including the people in Amakusa, happened in 1637 in the period of Hirotaka’s son, Katataka. The shogunate took Amakusa away from the Terasawa Clan after the rebellion. Katataka felt anxious and killed himself in 1647 in the end. The Terasawa Clan was fired by the shogunate because of no successor to him.

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

Karatsu Domain followed by Mizuno and Ogasawara Clans

After that, five clans governed Karatsu Castle and the Karatsu Domain until the end of the Edo Period. Some of the lords became famous in Japanese history. One of them was Tadakuni Mizuno who performed the Tenpo Reforms in the central government as the head of the shogun’s council of elders. Another was Nagamichi Ogasawara who was a member of the shogun’s council of elders, and devoted to the Tokugawa Shogunate till the very last moment before it fell down.

The portrait of Tadakuni Mizuno, owned by Tokyo Metropolitan University *(licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)*

The portrait of Nagamichi Ogasawara, from the digital collections of National Diet Library (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

To be continued in “Karatsu Castle Part2”

136.Torigoe Castle Part2

Well developed ruins of a mountain castle

Features

Enclosures built using Natural Terrain

Today, the ruins of Torigoe Castle are well restored for visitors. If you drive to the ruins, you can easily go up to the parking lot near the top of the mountain. After parking, you can walk on the path to the center of the ruins. This path goes through the Rear Third Enclosure and the Rear Second Enclosure. These enclosures protected the Main Enclosure in the north. Similarly, the Third Enclosure and the Second Enclosure also protected the Main Enclosure in the south. Moreover, the Belt Enclosures surrounded the enclosures mentioned above for connection or a defense perimeter.

The aerial photo around the castle

For example, if you look at the Rear Second Enclosure, you can see it has a deep dry moat and is highly heaped. You can imagine the builders dug the moat and made the enclosure by heaping the soil from the moat on natural terrain. Some wooden fences were probably built along the enclosure. Some buildings were also built in the enclosure, where you can see the remnants of them now.

The Rear Second Enclosure seen from the Main Enclosure

Restored Buildings and Stone Walls

You can go further to the Central Enclosure in front of the Main Enclosure. Due to the achievement of the excavation, some buildings were restored. One of them is the Central Enclosure Gate, which may have been the front gate of the castle. Another is a barrack which is also currently used as the rest house.

The restored barrack and rest house for visitors

You can finally enter the Main Enclosure through the Masugata-mon Gate which is surrounded by the only stone walls in the castle. They were also restored in recent times, and originally built by Nobunaga Oda’s troops. This was because the castle was changing hands between the Kaga Ikko uprising and Oda during the conflict. Masugata refers to a square space inside or outside of the entrance, which has made it more defensive. In the back of the Masugata, there is, likewise, the restored turret styled Main Enclosure Gate, which was originally built by the Kaga Ikko uprising.

You can enjoy View and see Good Location

Inside the Main Enclosure, there were a lot of buildings discovered during the excavation. However, the purpose of them is still uncertain, so only columns and stone foundations are shown for visitors. In addition, some wooden fences on the earthen walls, a well, and large jars for storage are restored in the enclosure. From the enclosure, you can see a good view of both sides of the mountain in the east and west, being at a good location for lookout and protection.

A view from the Main Enclosure (the eastern side)

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