was the seat of the Matsura clan, the ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominal ...

'' of

Hirado Domain was a Japanese domain of the Edo period. It is associated with Hizen Province in modern-day Nagasaki Prefecture.

, of

Hizen Province was an old province of Japan in the area of the Saga and Nagasaki prefectures. It was sometimes called , with Higo Province. Hizen bordered on the provinces of Chikuzen and Chikugo. The province was included in Saikaidō. It did not incl ...

, Kyūshū. It is located in present-day Hirado city

Nagasaki Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Nagasaki Prefecture has a population of 1,314,078 (1 June 2020) and has a geographic area of 4,130 km2 (1,594 sq mi). Nagasaki Prefecture borders Saga Prefecture to the northeast. N ...

, Japan. It was also known as .

Description

Hirado Castle was built on top of a small, rounded mountainous peninsula facing Hirado Bay, surrounded on three sides by water.

History

After

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...

’s successful conquest of Kyūshū, local warlord Matsura Shigenobu was granted Hirado County and the

Iki Island , or the , is an archipelago in the Tsushima Strait, which is administered as the city of Iki in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. The islands have a total area of with a total population of 28,008. Only four (4) of the twenty-three (23) named island ...

to be his domain. In 1599, Matsura Shigenobu erected a castle called Hinotake-jō on the site of the present-day Hirado Castle. However, he burned the castle down himself in 1613, as a gesture of loyalty towards

Shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamak ...

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fello ...

, having served in the losing Toyotomi side during the Battle of Sekigahara. In return, he was allowed to retain his position as ''daimyō'' of Hirado Domain under the

Tokugawa bakufu The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedi ...

. The present Hirado Castle was constructed in 1704 by order of the 4th ''daimyō'' of Hirado domain, Matsura Takashi with the assistance of the Tokugawa shogunate. It was intended to be the keystone in coastal defense in the East China Sea region, as the government had by then implemented a policy of national seclusion against Western traders and missionaries. The design was partly influenced by the theories of the military strategist Yamaga Sokō. The new construction was completed in 1718, and the castle remained home to the Matsura ''daimyō'' until the Meiji bils of 1868. In 1871, with the abolition of the han system, all structures of Hirado Castle were dismantled, with the exception of the northern gate, a ''

yagura Yagura may refer to: * Yagura castle * Yagura opening * Yagura (tombs) * Yagura (tower) is the Japanese word for "tower", "turret", "keep", or "scaffold". The word is most often seen in reference to structures in Japanese castle compounds bu ...

'' and the moat, and the grounds turned into Kameoka Park, with a Shinto shrine dedicated to the spirits of the successive generations of the Matsura ''hankang''. The former residence of the final ''daimyō'',

Matsura Akira Count was the 12th and final ''daimyō'' of Hirado Domain in Hizen Province, Kyūshū, Japan. He was also the 37th hereditary head of the Matsura clan, and a noted tea master. His honorary title was. '' Hizen-no-Kami''. Biography Akira was ...

was turned into a local history museum. In 1962, four ''yagura'', the ramparts, and the keep were reconstructed. The modern keep is a five-story steel-reinforced concrete structure and contains a museum with artifacts of the Matsura clan. One of these artifacts is a 93-cm long

Japanese sword A is one of several types of traditionally made swords from Japan. Bronze swords were made as early as the Yayoi period (1000 BC – 300 AD), though most people generally refer to the curved blades made from the Heian period (794 – 1185) to ...

(''

tachi A is a type of traditionally made Japanese sword (''nihonto'') worn by the samurai class of feudal Japan. ''Tachi'' and ''katana'' generally differ in length, degree of curvature, and how they were worn when sheathed, the latter depending on t ...

'') dating from the

Asuka period The was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710 (or 592 to 645), although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The Yamato polity evolved greatly during the Asuka period, which is named after ...

, and is locally purported to have been carried by a general during the time of the legendary

Empress Jingū was a legendary Japanese empress who ruled as a regent following her husband's death in 200 AD. Both the ''Kojiki'' and the ''Nihon Shoki'' (collectively known as the ''Kiki'') record events that took place during Jingū's alleged lifetime. Leg ...

's invasion of Korea. An heirloom of the Matsura clan, it is now owned by Kameoka Shrine and is a designated as a National Important Cultural Property (ICP). In 2006, Hirado Castle was listed as one of the

100 Fine Castles of Japan The castles in were chosen based on their significance in culture, history, and in their regions by the in 2006. In 2017, Japanese Castle Association created an additional finest 100 castles list as Continued Top 100 Japanese Castles. Hokkaidō ...

by the Japan Castle Foundation.

Gallery

Image:HiradoCastle2.jpg, Hirado Castle stands on an island off Kyūshū. Image:HiradoCastle1.jpg, Castle keep Image:Hirado Castle air.jpg, Aerial photo of Hirado Castle

References

* * * * *

External links

Hirado City home page

JCastle Information Page
{{Authority control Castles in Nagasaki Prefecture Museums in Nagasaki Prefecture History museums in Japan 100 Fine Castles of Japan