Kagoshima Castle

Kagoshima Castle (鹿児島城, kagoshima jō), also known as Tsurumaru Castle, is a Japanese castle in Kagoshima City, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan.

Water moat and stone wall of Kagoshima Castle
Kagoshima Castle
鹿児島城
Kagoshima, Kagoshima
TypeJapanese castle
Site information
Controlled bySatsuma Domain (1601–1874)
Japan (1874–present)
Open to
the public		yes
Conditionruins
Site history
Built1601
Built byMatsudaira Iehisa
Garrison information
OccupantsDaimyō of Satsuma
Japanese name
Kanji鹿児島城
Hiraganaかごしまじょう
Katakanaカゴシマジョウ

History

This castle was constructed by Matsudaira Iehisa in 1601. In 1600 Shimazu Yoshihiro, the father of Iehisa, was defeated at the Battle of Sekigahara as a daimyō of the western alliance, by the eastern alliance led by Tokugawa Ieyasu. This castle was built after the defeat and in the severe political tension with Ieyasu.

This castle is notable for the small scale and fairly poor quality as a main castle of one of the richest daimyōs in Japan. It is said that Shimazu was afraid of giving the Tokugawa an excuse to attack Shimazu territory by making too large a castle.

The castle is now only ruins, with moats and stone walls.[1] Otemon Gate was reconstructed in 2018. Reimeikan, Kagoshima Prefectural Center for Historical Material is located on the site.

Access

Literature
  • Benesch, Oleg and Ran Zwigenberg (2019). Japan's Castles: Citadels of Modernity in War and Peace. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 374. ISBN 9781108481946.
  • Schmorleitz, Morton S. (1974). Castles in Japan. Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Co. ISBN 0-8048-1102-4.


References
  1. "日本100名城 鹿児島城" (in Japanese). 日本城郭協会. Retrieved 25 July 2019.

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