Katsumoto Castle

Architecture, patrimoine et histoire · Préfecture de Nagasaki

Perched on Shiroyama hill, nearly 79 metres above Katsumoto Port in the north of Iki Island, Katsumoto Castle is one of the milestones on the military route that Toyotomi Hideyoshi laid out towards the Korean peninsula. Ordered in 1591, it was raised in about four months under the direction of Matsuura Shigenobu, lord of Hirado, to serve as a supply base and relay between Nagoya Castle on Kyushu and the port of Busan. It remained in service throughout the Bunroku and Keichō campaigns, after which its wooden buildings were dismantled following Hideyoshi's death in 1598 and the withdrawal of Japanese troops. Sections of stone wall survive, together with the masugata enclosure that protected the main gate and a few traces of dry moats. Protected as a National Historic Site since 2002, the summit is now a park with an Inari shrine, offering a wide view over the port and the nearby islets.