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| The central compound where the castle towers soar |
The origin of the castle goes back to the middle of the 15th century when fortifications were made on the hill; then expanded and finally in 1588 KATO Kiyomasa, a trusted vassal of TOYOTOMI Hideyoshi (the first ruler all over Japan), was dispatched to the early incarnation of Kumamoto Castle and built this grand, extremely fortified castle. The castle complex consisted of a large castle tower, a small castle tower, 49 turrets, 18 turret gates, and 29 smaller gates. The Honmaru Goten Palace was completed in 1610.
The Kato clan, however, was ousted in 1632 by the Tokugawa shogunate and replaced by the Hosokawa who reigned for 239 years, the rest of the Edo period. One of the Hosokawa descendants became prime minister of Japan but didn’t last long as has been often the case with other successive prime ministers. Ugh.
Most of the castle buildings were mysteriously burned down three days before the castle was besieged and attacked by the disaffected former samurai members from Satsuma in 1877. This is part of the very complicated and dramatic history of Bakumatsu (toward the dismantling of the Tokugawa shogunate) and the beginning of the new government, Meiji.
The castle still retains 13 original buildings including remarkable Uto-yagura turret, and most of the important castle buildings are now reconstructed.
Some samurai members stand by for you. They talk like samurais but are happy to be photographed with you.
And this spring, the fun facility Josai-kan was completed, located at the foot of the hill. There's Wakuwaku-za on the Josai-kan premises, a sort of fun museum, where you can wear costumes from the samurai era.
See my picasa album for more fun.
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| Shokun-no-ma in the grand Palace |
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