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, also known as and , is a
Japanese castle
are fortresses constructed primarily of wood and stone. They evolved from the wooden stockades of earlier centuries and came into their best-known form in the 16th century. Castles in Japan were built to guard important or strategic sites, such a ...
located in
Shimabara,
Hizen Province
was an old provinces of Japan, old province of Japan in the area of the Saga Prefecture, Saga and Nagasaki Prefecture, Nagasaki prefectures. It was sometimes called , with Higo Province. Hizen bordered on the provinces of Chikuzen Province, Ch ...
(present day
Nagasaki prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan, mainly located on the island of Kyūshū, although it also includes a number of islands off Kyūshū's northwest coast - including Tsushima and Iki. Nagasaki Prefecture has a population of 1,246,4 ...
). This five-story white building stands in stark contrast to the black
Kumamoto Castle
is a hilltop Japanese castle located in Chūō-ku, Kumamoto, in Kumamoto Prefecture. It was a large and well-fortified castle. The is a concrete reconstruction built in 1960, but a number of ancillary wooden buildings remain of the original ca ...
in neighboring
Kumamoto Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture t ...
.
Overview
Shimabara Castle faces
Ariake Bay
The is a body of salt water surrounded by Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, and Kumamoto Prefectures, all of which lie on the island of Kyūshū in Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coas ...
and is located at the foot of
Mount Unzen
is an active volcanic group of several overlapping stratovolcanoes, near the city of Shimabara, Nagasaki on the island of Kyushu, Japan's southernmost main island.
In 1792, the collapse of one of its several lava domes triggered a megatsuna ...
. The castle is a rectangular linked-wall flatland-style () castle, characterized by high stone walls. The outer
moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...
s, some 15 meters deep and between 30–50 meters wide, extended 360 meters east-west and 1260 meters north-south, with the enclosed area divided into three
baileys. The walls extended for 3900 meters and had 16 ''
yagura'' of various sizes at key points. The
main enclosure is also surrounded by a moat and is connected to the second enclosure by a single wooden corridor bridge. Destroying the bridge would allow the main enclosure to be isolated, but on the other hand it would be trapped, and the corridor bridge would make it difficult for arrows to hit enemies on the bridge so this was a flaw in the layout. The main
''tenshu'' had five stories, and a height of 33 meters, and was connected to two secondary ''tenshu''. In terms of scale, it was far larger than normal for a ''
daimyō
were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...
'' with revenues of only 40,000 ''
koku
The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. One koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about of rice. It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1,000 gō. One ''gō'' is the traditional volume of a single serving of rice (before co ...
''.
History
The ''
Kirishitan
The Japanese term , from Portuguese ''cristão'' (cf. Kristang), meaning "Christian", referred to Catholic Christians in Japanese and is used in Japanese texts as a historiographic term for Catholics in Japan in the 16th and 17th centuries ...
''
, who ruled over the Shimabara peninsula from the late Muromachi period from Hinoe Castle">Muromachi period">DF 6-7 of 80/nowiki> retrieved 2013-5- ...
, who ruled over the Shimabara peninsula from the late Muromachi period from Hinoe Castle and Hara Castle were transferred to Nobeoka Domain in 1616 by the Tokugawa shogunate. The Arima were replaced as ''
daimyō
were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...
'' of
Shimabara Domain by
Matsukura Shigemasa as a reward for his services in the
Siege of Osaka
A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...
. This was soon after the shogunate banned Christianity from 1614 and Matsukura strictly enforced the prohibition against Christianity with mass executions. In 1618, he began the construction of Shimabara Castle using forced labor. Construction was plagued with difficulties due to the loose lava soil of the site, which created problems for supporting the weight of the stone walls, and construction took seven years and the castle was not completed to 1624. During this period, Matsukura raised severely taxes, partly to pay for the construction costs and this oppression of the peasants was a major factor leading to the
Shimabara Rebellion
The , also known as the or , was an rebellion, uprising that occurred in the Shimabara Domain of the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan from 17 December 1637 to 15 April 1638.
Matsukura Katsuie, the ''daimyō'' of the Shimabara Domain, enforced unpo ...
of 1637 to 1638. The castle came under siege during the Shimabara Rebellion, but was not damaged. It subsequently served as the seat of the
Kōriki clan, who ruled Shimabara from 1638–1668,
Matsudaira clan
The was a Japanese samurai clan that descended from the Minamoto clan. It originated in and took its name from Matsudaira village, in Mikawa Province (modern-day Aichi Prefecture). During the Sengoku period, the chieftain of the main line of the ...
(1669–1747, 1774–1871) and Toda clan (1747–1774). The Matsudaira ''daimyō'' remained in residence at Shimabara Castle until the
Meiji Restoration
The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...
of 1868.
It was the seat of the local government until 1871, when the former Shimabara Domain was merged into the new
Nagasaki prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan, mainly located on the island of Kyūshū, although it also includes a number of islands off Kyūshū's northwest coast - including Tsushima and Iki. Nagasaki Prefecture has a population of 1,246,4 ...
. The castle was abolished by the
Meiji government
The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan.
Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji ...
in 1874 and the ''tenshu'' was pulled down in 1876, as were most of the supporting structures, and the land sold to the private sector. The third bailey became a school grounds, and most of the inner bailey was given over to farmland.
Today, only the moat and stone walls remain from the original structure. The West Yagura was restored in 1960, and the ''tenshu'' was rebuilt in 1964 in
reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete, also called ferroconcrete or ferro-concrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having higher tensile strength or ...
as a city museum containing exhibits of the ''Kirishitan'' culture, Shimabara Rebellion and feudal period. In 1972, the Tatsumi Yagura was restored. It became a memorial museum in honor of
Seibo Kitamura, a noted sculptor, in 1980. Also in 1980, the Ushitora Yagura was restored. A Tourism Revival Memorial Hall was opened on the castle grounds to convey information about the Unzen-Fugen volcanic disaster in 1996. In 2006, the Shimabara Castle was listed one of the
100 Fine Castles of Japan by the Japan Castle Foundation.
Japan Castle Foundation
/ref>
In 2016, Shimabara Castle was designated as a Nagasaki Prefecture Historic Site. It was upgraded to a National Historic Site in 2025.
See also
* List of Historic Sites of Japan (Nagasaki)
References
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External links
Shimabara Castle home page
References
Castles in Nagasaki Prefecture
Museums in Nagasaki Prefecture
History museums in Japan
100 Fine Castles of Japan
Historic Sites of Japan
Shimabara Rebellion
Shimabara, Nagasaki
Hizen Province
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