181.Kokura Castle Part3

In the morning of the 9th August of 1945, a US B-29 bomber, called Bockscar, was carrying the second atomic bomb to Japan. In fact, its first target was the arms factory of Kokura (in the third enclosure of Kokura Castle).

Features

Other Enclosures of Castle

The park still has other enclosures. Kita-no-maru (meaning the northern enclosure) was used as the lord’s family residence or retreat and is used as Kokura-Gion-Yasaka Shrine. It is connected to the main enclosure via Tamon-guchi-mon Gate where you can see the oldest stone walls in the castle around. The walls had been built by Katsunari Mori before Tadaoki Hosokawa came. There are also well-maintained stone walls and water moats around the Kita-no-maru Enclosure, so this is a good walking spot.

The aerial photo around the castle

The Kita-no-maru enclosure (the current Kokura-Gion-Yasaka Shrine)
The Tamonguchi-mon Gate, quoted from Kokura Castle Website
The stone walls and water moats surrounding the Kita-no-maru Enclosure

Matsu-no-maru (meaning the pine enclosure) is in the south of the main enclosure. It was used as Tadaoki’s father’s residence or warehouses when the castle was active; it is currently an event square. It was once used as the headquarters of the 12th Brigade like the main enclosure.

The Matsu-no-maru Enclosure

Third Enclosure including Monument for Atomic Bomb Victims

If you go further to the south, there is a modern park area which was the third enclosure used as the senior vassals’ residences. During World War II, there was a large arms factory, but now there is a monument for atomic bomb victims. The reason for it will be written in the next section.

The third enclosure

Later History

After the Meiji Restoration, the main portion of Kokura Castle was turned into military facilities and the other area became the city area of Kokura. It changed from a Samurai city to a military city. In the morning of the 9th August of 1945, a US B-29 bomber, called Bockscar, was carrying the second atomic bomb to Japan. In fact, its first target was the arms factory of Kokura. However, it could not focus on the target because of thick cloud and finally dropped the bomb into Nagasaki. As a result, people in Kokura were lucky, but they should not be pleased about it. That’s why the former factory site has the monument. After the the war, the occupation army used the castle site until 1957. The current Main Tower was rebuilt in 1959.

Bockscar, exhibited by National Museum of the United States Air Force  (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)
The monument for the atomic bomb victims in the third enclosure

My Impression

I think that if the current Main Tower of Kokura Castle had kept the original design of the Western style, it would be more popular than now. This is because the design is very unique which would attract more current visitors. However, the people who wanted to rebuild the tower chose another direction. That was probably because they wanted a tower which was competitive with other castles. I don’t think the tower ever needs to be replaced with a new one with an original design because it would cost a lot and the current tower is also a historical item.

The current Main Tower of Kokura Castle

How to get There

If you want to visit there by car, it is about a 5-minute drive away from Katsuyama Exit on the Kitakyushu Expressway.
There is a parking lot in the park.
By public transportation, it takes about 15 minutes on foot from JR Kokura Station.
From Tokyo or Osaka to the station: take the Sanyo Shinkansen super express.

Kokura Station

Links and References

Kokura Castle Official Website

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

The design of the current Main Tower is very different from the original one which had simple roofs. The current tower apparently has many decorations like large hip-and-gables, which the original one didn’t have.

Features

Castle is near Kokura Station

Today, the current Kokura Castle is near Kokura Station, only about a 15 minute walk away from the station. Unfortunately, you can’t see the castle from the station because of the high buildings around. If you first reach a side of Murasaki River and walk on the promenade alongside it for a while, you can see the Main Tower of the castle among the buildings. This is the moment when you can understand the castle was developed together with the rivers.

The map around the castle

The Main Tower seen from the riverside

The main portion of the castle, including the tower, has been developed as Katsuyama Park. It was once surrounded and divided by many water moats, so there were few gates and bridges such as Tora-no-mon Gate and Nishi-no-mon Gate. However, few of the moats remain, so that’s why visitors can easily access the park now. For example, if you walk from the river to the park by passing the Kitakyushu City Hall beside Otesaki-mon Gate Ruins, you can get close to the Main Tower soon.

The original gates of the main portion (adding their English names by the red letters) in the Illustration of Kokura Castle in Buzen Province, exhibited by the National Archives of Japan
The ruins of Tora-no-mon Gate
The ruins of Nishi-no-mon Gate
The ruins of Otesaki-mon Gate
Getting close to the Main Tower

Current Main Tower is apparently very different from Original Tower

The current Main Tower, which was reconstructed in 1959, is 28.7m high, 5.9m higher than the original one. It is also the sixth tallest existing Main Tower in Japan. The total height including the original stone walls is 47.5m. If you stand by the inner moat surrounding the tower and the walls, they look really great; it is certainly a good viewing spot of the castle. However, there is a controversial issue about the tower. The design of the current Main Tower is very different from the original one which had simple roofs. The current tower apparently has many decorations like large hip-and-gables, Chinese styled gables and triangular shaped gables, which the original one didn’t have. It is said that the designer of the current one tried to build a tower with the same design as the original one but he couldn’t. That was because the sponsor requested him to use the current design. People at that time wanted a showy symbol which could attract many visitors.

The current Main Tower
The top 10 tallest Main Towers of castles in Japan, the No.1 is Osaka Castle on the very left, Kokura Castle is the 6th from the left, exhibited by Kokura Castle Tower
The miniature model of the original Main Tower, exhibited by Kokura Castle Tower

Several Gate Ruins of Main Enclosure

To enter the Main Tower, you have to go to the main enclosure by passing the great stone walls of the Main Gate Ruins. The walls have some huge ornamental stones and form a defensive square called Masugata.

The ruins of the Main Gate
An ornamental stone used at the corner of the stone walls of the Main Gate

After that, you only need to walk up a gentle slope to reach the enclosure and the tower. However, in the past, high-class warriors went through another gate called Keyaki-mon which remains as ruins. Meanwhile, low-class warriors had to enter Kurogane-mon Gate instead. These came from a clear discrimination of how to get the castle even among the warriors.

The Main Gate is marked by the red circle, the Keyaki-mon Gate is marked by the blue circle and the Kurogame-mon Gate is marked by the green circle, in the restored image by CG exhibited by Kokura Castle Tower
The path direct to the Main Tower for the current visitors
The ruins of Keyaki-mon Gate
The ruins of Kurogane-mon Gate

In the main enclosure, there was the main hall and there are the ruins of the Imperial Japanese army’s 12th division headquarters.

The inside of the main enclosure
The ruins of the Imperial Japanese army’s 12th division headquarters.

Renewed Interior of Main Tower

The Main Tower is used as a historical museum whose interior was recently renewed in 2019. Its top floor is used as an observation platform like the original one used to be. The appearance of the floor was also restored hanging out in the Nanban (Western) style, so its interior was built being wrapped in by the outer part.

An exhibition in the Main Tower
The top floor
A view of the Murasaki River from the floor
The appearance of the top of the tower

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

181.Kokura Castle Part1

The top floor of the Main Tower hanged out, which was called Western Style. This was because its balcony and handrails were covered by black outer walls to prevent damage from bad weather and strong wind.

Location and History

Castle is built as Bridgehead in Kyushu

Kokura Castle is located in the Kokura area of Kitakyushu City at the northern edge of the Kyushu Region. For example, if you visit the region using a Shinkansen super express, the first station will be Kokura Station near the castle. The area was more well known as the entrance of the region, which had Kokura Port facing the Kanmon Strait, sandwiched by Kyushu Island and the main island of Japan. That’s why warlords, who wanted to invade the region from the mainland, tried to build a bridgehead in this area. Certain records say that Motonari Mori, who was a great warlord of the Chugoku Region, built it in 1569, which would be the former Kokura Castle. After the ruler, Hideyoshi Toyotomi invaded the region in 1587, he gave the castle to his trusted vassal, Katsunobu Mori. However, Katsunobui was eventually fired because he was against Ieyasu Tokugawa, who would become the next ruler, in the decisive battle in 1600.

The range of Buzen Province and the location of the castle

Tadaoki Hosokawa renovates Castle

Instead, Tadaoki Hosokawa (also known as Sansai after his retirement), who had greatly supported Ieyasu in the battle, was assigned as the lord of Buzen Provence including the Kokura area and would be the founder of the Kokura Domain. He first lived in Nakatsu Castle, which the former lord of the castle, the Kuroda Clan had built, but soon started to renovate the castle in Kokura in 1602 as his new home, which would be what we call Kokura Castle.

The portrait of Tadaoki Hosokawa, owned by Eisei Bunko Museum (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)
The current Nakatsu Castle Ruins

The former castle and the port was along the large estuary of Murasaki River, like a bay, when Tadaoki greatly developed the area. The area was broadly separated into the Western and Eastern Enclosures, binding the river. The Western Enclosure was also divided by water moats into smaller sub enclosures, such as the Main Enclosure, for the lord and warriors. The Eastern Enclosure became the castle town for people like merchants, craftsmen and monks. Furthermore, the whole area was surrounded by other natural or artificial rivers as the outermost moat whose perimeter was about 8km. Tadaoki thought if a large enemy force attacked the castle, he would flood the enemy by breaking the banks of the rivers.

the whole Kokura Castle drawn in “the illustration of Kokura Samurai residences”, from the signboard at the site, adding the English comments
Sunatsu River, the western part of the outermost moat

Characteristic Main Tower

The main portion of the castle was surrounded by high stone walls. In particular, the stone wall base for the Main Tower was built at the northeastern corner of the Main Enclosure and was 18.8m high. The Main Tower itself was 22.8m high, so 41.6m in total. The tower had 4 levels and 5 floors inside because they were no roofs between the fourth and fifth floors. Also, the existing roofs were very simple without any decorations except for the top. It is a method called Soto-siki (meaning multi-storied type). This method made the builders efficient and made the tower easier to protect. The defenders would actually look out over the surronding area and counterattack the enemies at any direction from the tower. In addition, the tower had one more feature called Nanban-zukuri (meaning Western Style) or Kara-zukuri (the Chinese Style). It refers to some of the levels or floors hanging out over the other levels of the tower. In the case of Kokura Castle, it was the top floor because its balcony and handrails were covered by black outer walls to prevent damage from bad weather and strong wind. This Kokura style would be later emulated by other castles like Tsuyama and Takamatsu Castles.

The restored image by CG of the main portion of Kokura Castle, exhibited by Kokura Castle Tower
The miniature model of the original Main Tower of Kokura Castle, exhibited by Kokura Castle Tower
The old photo of Tsuyama Castle including its Main Tower, in the early Meiji Period, taken by Kunitada Matsudaira (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)
The old photo of the Main Tower of Takamatsu Castle

Prosperity and Destruction of Ogasawara Clan

The castle and the domain were followed by Tadazame Ogasawara Ogasawara in 1632 after the Hosokawa Clan was transferred to Kumamoto Castle of the Kumamoto Domain. The Ogasawara Clan was a hereditary feudal lord family of the Tokugawa Shogunate, so it was expected to monitor non-hereditary feudal domains in the Kyushu Region. While the government of the Kokura Domain became stable, its castle town commercially prospered, especially around Tokiwa Bridge which connected the Western and Eastern Enclosures over the Murasaki River. The bridge was also the starting point of the Nagasaki Road where many passengers came and went between the main land and the region. the lords in the region and the Korean Envoys also used the road when they went to Edo.

The portrait of Tadazane Ogasawara, owned by Fukuju-ji Temple (licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)
The diorama of the town around Tokiwa Bridge, exhibited by Kokura Castle Tower
The current Tokiwa Bridge, it was restored using wooden materials
The figures of the Korean Envoys, exhibited by Kokura Castle Tower

Meanwhile, a bad sign for the castle occurred in 1837. The Main Tower was unfortunately burned down by an accidental fire though it had survived through some lightning strikes. The tower was not rebuilt by the domain after that. Next, a severe event happened to the castle at the end of the Edo Period. The Choshu Domain at the edge of the mainland over the Kanmon Strait rebelled against the shogunate twice. The Second Conquest of Choshu was planned by the shogunate in 1866. The shogunate ordered the Kokura Domain and its allies to attack the Choshu through the Kokura Route, one of the four battlefields.

A Kawaraban newspaper called the scenes of the Battle of Kokura in Kyushu, exhibited by Cultural Heritage Online

The battles on the Kokura Route started in June. Against all odds, the Choshu troops landed on the Kokura area and counterattacked the shogunate side instead. Moreover, all the allies withdrew after they heard about the death of the shogun, Iemochi Tokugawa, by illness on the 20th of July. The Kokura troops, which were left alone, finally fired at the castle by themselves on the 1st of Aug and continued to fight against the Choshu like a guerrilla army. However, the fall of the castle and the Choshu capturing it became a symbol of the shogunate’s big failure in the battles which would accelerate its destruction and the Meiji Restoration by the New Government including the Choshu Domain.

The current Kokura Castle

To be continued in “Kokura Castle Part2”