140721 Kokura Castle Kitakyushu Japan01s3

is a castle in

Kitakyushu is a Cities of Japan, city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, Kitakyushu has an estimated population of 940,978, making it the second-largest city in both Fukuoka Prefecture and the island of Kyushu after the city of Fuku ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. It was built by

Hosokawa Tadaoki was a Japanese samurai warrior of the late Sengoku period and early Edo period. He was the son of Hosokawa Fujitaka with Numata Jakō, and he was the husband of a famous Christian convert (Kirishitan), Hosokawa Gracia. For most of his life, he ...

starting in 1602, with construction completed in 1608.

History

Construction of Kokura Castle began in 1602 and was completed in 1608. It was the property of the

Ogasawara clan The was a Japanese samurai clan descended from the Seiwa Genji.Papinot, Jacques. (2003)''Nobiliare du Japon'' – Ogasawara, pp. 44–45 Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon.'' (in Fren ...

(from

Harima or Banshū (播州) was a province of Japan in the part of Honshū that is the southwestern part of present-day Hyōgo Prefecture. Harima bordered on Tajima, Tanba, Settsu, Bizen, and Mimasaka Provinces. Its capital was Himeji. During the ...

) between 1632 and 1860. The castle burnt down from a fire in 1837, with parts of it rebuilt in 1839. The castle was burnt down intentionally in 1866 by retreating

Kokura is an ancient castle town and the center of Kitakyushu, Japan, guarding the Straits of Shimonoseki between Honshu and Kyushu with its suburb Moji. Kokura is also the name of the penultimate station on the southbound San'yō Shinkansen lin ...

troops during its skirmish against the Chōshū clan during the

Second Chōshū expedition The Second Chōshū expedition (Japanese: 第二次長州征討), also called the Summer War, was a punitive expedition led by the Tokugawa shogunate against the Chōshū Domain. It followed the First Chōshū expedition of 1864. Background Th ...

Mori Ōgai Lieutenant-General , known by his pen name , was a Japanese Army Surgeon general officer, translator, novelist, poet and father of famed author Mari Mori. He obtained his medical license at a very young age and introduced translated German lan ...

was based at the castle at the turn of the 20th century, when it was a military base. The keep was reconstructed in 1959, and the castle was fully restored in 1990.

Matsumoto Seicho Memorial Museum The is a literature museum in Kitakyushu, Japan. It is dedicated to Seichō Matsumoto, who spent the first half of his life in Kitakyusyu. The museum is located next to Kokura Castle. Features of the Museum The museum displays exhibits and ...

and castle garden were opened in 1998.

Location

The castle is about a ten-minute walk from

JR Kyushu The , also referred to as , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates intercity rail services within Kyushu, Japan and the JR Kyushu Jet Ferry Beetle hydrofoil service across the Tsushima Strait ...

Kokura Station in Kokurakita-ku is the main railway station in Kitakyushu, Japan. It is part of the JR Kyushu network and the San'yō Shinkansen stops here. It is the second largest station in Kyushu with 120,000 users daily. In the late 1990s, the Kokura st ...

. The north side of the moat is next to the Riverwalk shopping complex (completed in 2003).

Attractions

The castle keep contains a modern folkloric museum and admission is charged to the keep (350 yen), garden (300 yen) and Matsumoto Seicho Memorial Museum (600 yen). A joint ticket to the three attractions costs 700 yen. The keep is not an accurate reconstruction. When it was reconstructed in 1959, the designers opted for a more aesthetically appealing design instead of faithfully rebuilding the simpler structure that once stood on the site. Kokura Castle was listed as one of the

Continued Top 100 Japanese Castles The is a list of 100 Japanese castle, castles, intended as a sequel of 100 Fine Castles of Japan. The castles were chosen for their significance in culture, history, and in their regions by the in 2017. Hokkaidō region Tōhoku region Kant ...

in 2017. An old Japanese-style pre-

Brunton Brunton may refer to: Places *Brunton, Northumberland, England (near Alnwick) *Low Brunton, Northumberland, England (near Hexham) *Brunton, Wiltshire, England *Brunton Memorial Ground, Radlett, Hertfordshire, England *Brunton, Fife, Scotland; a Lis ...

lighthouse from Shirasu (白洲) is on the castle grounds. Image:Kokura castle keep.jpg, The keep or donjon of Kokura Castle Image:Kokura castle.JPG, Closer look at east side of the castle Image:Kokura castle sakura.JPG, Cherry blossoms (

sakura A cherry blossom, also known as Japanese cherry or sakura, is a flower of many trees of Prunus, genus ''Prunus'' or Prunus subg. Cerasus, ''Prunus'' subg. ''Cerasus''. They are common species in East Asia, including China, Korea and especia ...

) and the keep of Kokura Castle, March 2002 Image:Kokura-jo.JPG, Kokura castle Image:Kokura castle info.JPG, Kokura Castle floors information Image:Old Shirasu lighthouse.JPG, The old Shirasu lighthouse

Literature

* * *

External links

Kokura Castle
- Kitakyushu film commission

(Japanese)

(English)

- Japan Kyushu Tourist {{Authority control 1602 establishments in Japan Buildings and structures in Kitakyushu Castles in Fukuoka Prefecture Museums in Fukuoka Prefecture Ogasawara clan Ōshū-Hosokawa clan Tourist attractions in Kitakyushu

History

Location

Attractions

Literature

See also

External links