Kitsuki Castle

En un regard

Le château en bref

Kitsuki Castle stands on Shiroyama, a short ridge about 200 m long and 20 to 30 m high in the south of the Kunisaki Peninsula, protected on its flanks by the Yasaka and Takayama rivers, which flow into Morie Bay. Founded in 1394 by Kitsuki Yorinao, of a cadet branch of the Ōtomo clan, it withstood a Shimazu siege in the Sengoku period before its lords were dispossessed at the end of the 16th century. It then passed to Sugihara Nagafusa, then to Hosokawa Tadaoki, lord of Kokura, who kept it as a secondary stronghold, to the Ogasawara in 1632 and finally, from 1645 until the Meiji era, to a branch of the Matsudaira. The buildings were dismantled after 1868. The present three-storey keep is a free reconstruction in reinforced concrete from 1970 housing a small museum; it is said to be one of the smallest castles in Japan. At the foot of the hill, the castle town preserves its samurai districts, earthen walls and sloping paved lanes, which attract many visitors. The ruins have been a National Historic Site since 2020.