was 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 ...

Chikuzen Province was a province of Japan in the area of northern Kyūshū, corresponding to part of north and western Fukuoka Prefecture. Chikuzen bordered on Hizen to the east, and Buzen east, and Bungo to the southeast. Its abbreviated form name was (a ...

, in the north of

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa and the other Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regio ...

. It was at the peak of Mount Tachibana, extending in part into the Higashi-ku in

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...

. The castle is also known as Rikka-jō, Tachibana-jō, or Rikkasan-jō.

History

The castle was originally built in 1330, by Ōtomo Sadatoshi, Constable (''

shugo , commonly translated as ' ilitarygovernor', 'protector', or 'constable', was a title given to certain officials in feudal Japan. They were each appointed by the shogun to oversee one or more of the provinces of Japan. The position gave way to th ...

'') of

Bungo Province was a province of Japan in the area of eastern Kyūshū, corresponding to most of modern Ōita Prefecture, except what is now the cities of Nakatsu and Usa. Bungo bordered on Hyūga to the south, Higo and Chikugo to the west, and Chikuze ...

, as a show of support to the Tachibana clan. Since it was in a tactically powerful location, looking down upon the port town of

Hakata is a ward of the city of Fukuoka in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Many of Fukuoka Prefecture and Fukuoka City's principal government, commercial, retail and entertainment establishments are located in the district. Hakata-ku is also the location o ...

, the castle was fought over throughout the Sengoku period by the Ōtomo, Ōuchi, and

Mōri clan The was a Japanese clan, Japanese samurai clan descended from Ōe no Hiromoto. Ōe no Hiromoto was descended from the Fujiwara clan. The family's most illustrious member, Mōri Motonari, greatly expanded the clan's power in Aki Province. Durin ...

s. In one of the more significant sieges, the Ōtomo clan lost the castle to the Mōri clan in 1569, who had become one of the most skilled and powerful clans in the field of naval warfare; their use of Western-style cannon granted them a large advantage in this battle. They abandoned it soon afterwards, however, following a defeat at Tatarahama to an allied Ōtomo-

Amago clan The , descended from the Emperor Uda (868–897) by the Kyogoku clan, descending from the Sasaki clan (Uda Genji). Kyogoku Takahisa in the 14th century, lived in Amako-go (Izumo Province), and took the name 'Amago'. The family crest is also t ...

force. The castle was besieged once more, in 1586, by the Shimazu family; the castle's lord at the time was

Tachibana Muneshige , was a Japanese ''samurai'', known in his youth as Senkumamaru (千熊丸) and alternatively called Tachibana Munetora (立花宗虎 or 立花統虎), during the Azuchi–Momoyama period and an Edo-period ''daimyō''. He was the eldest biol ...

. However, the Shimazu would fail in their siege and Muneshige successfully defended the castle. Soon after,

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

would arrive and launch his

Kyūshū Campaign The Kyūshū campaign of 1586–1587 was part of the campaigns of Toyotomi Hideyoshi who sought to dominate Japan at the end of the Sengoku period. Having subjugated much of Honshū and Shikoku, Hideyoshi turned his attention to the south ...

, which he would also gain the assistance of the Ōtomo. After Hideyoshi's conquest of Kyūshū ended with the surrender of the Shimazu, Muneshige and his clan were given Yanagawa castle, whereas Tachibana Castle would be entrusted in the care of

Kobayakawa Takakage was a samurai and daimyō (feudal military lord) during the Sengoku period and Azuchi–Momoyama period. He was the third son of Mōri Motonari who was adopted by the Kobayakawa clan and became its 14th clan head. He merged the two branches of ...

. A little over a decade later, at the beginning of the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

, Tachibana was largely destroyed and dismantled, much of the stone going into the construction of

Fukuoka Castle is a Japanese castle located in Chūō-ku, Fukuoka, Japan. It is also known as Maizuru Castle (舞鶴城 Maizuru-jō) or Seki Castle (石城 Seki-jō). Completed in the early Edo period for ''tozama daimyō'' Kuroda Nagamasa, it has been decre ...

. Today, remnants of the '' honmaru'' (central keep), the wells and waterworks survive.

References

*''Much of this article derives from a translation of the corresponding article on th
Japanese Wikipedia
'' *Turnbull, Stephen (1998). ''The Samurai Sourcebook''. London: Cassell & Co. {{coord, 33.679722, 130.468319, format=dms, display=title, type:landmark_region:JP_scale:10000 Buildings and structures completed in 1330 Former castles in Japan Tachibana castle Ruined castles in Japan Castles in Fukuoka Prefecture