Kokura Castle

Kokura Castle (小倉城) or Katsuyama-jo, Yuukin-jo in Kitakyushu, Japan was built by Hosokawa Tadaoki in 1602. It was the property of the Ogasawara clan (from Harima) between 1632 and 1860. The castle was burnt down in 1865 in the war between the Kokura and Chōshū clans.




Kokura Castle is about a ten-minute walk from JR Kyushu's Kokura Station. The North side of the moat is next to the Riverwalk shopping complex (completed in 2003). Kokura Castle is the symbol of the old castle town of Kokura. Though what-you-see is replica built in 1958. Today, the town is the central district of Kitakyûsyû.



History of Kokura Castle
In 1600 after the Battle of Sekigahara, Hosokawa Tadaoki was rewarded the lands of Buzen and Bungo. The ruling castle of the area was really at Nakatsu Castle, but Hosokawa found Kokura to be a much more convenient place from which to rule. It is also located at the vital point in transportation between Kyushu and Honshu. He started building Kokura Castle in 1602 and completed it in 1608.



Hosokawa's Son, Tadatoshi, was moved to Kumamoto in 1632. Ogasawara Tadazane replaced him and 9 generations of his descendents ruled for the next 230 years. The donjon burned down in a fire in 1837 and was not rebuilt. The castle itself was intentionally burned down and abandoned in 1866 when the Ogasawara fled Kokura during the second Battle of Shochuseito. The reconstructed castle you see today is borogata style with decorative gables called kara hafu and irimoya hafu, but the original donjon was a very simple sotogata and had no such gables.





The Kokura castle garden introduces the history of rules of decorum with the mind, and facilities in Japan to pass on a traditional life culture that makes rules of decorum a center to future generations and it is uique facility.


Japan is situated in northeastern Asia between the North Pacific and the Sea of Japan. Japan comprises over 3,000 islands, the largest of which are Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū and Shikoku. Most of the islands are mountainous, many volcanic, including Japan’s highest peak, Mount Fuji. Its capital and largest city is Tokyo. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes Tokyo and several surrounding prefectures, is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with over 30 million residents.

Japan is famous for its castles built during a time when the nation was controlled by military leaders called Shoguns. The castles of Japan have stood for centuries relatively unnoticed by the rest of the world. There are three main types of Japanese castles -- mountaintop (yamajiro), flatland-mountain (hirayamajiro), flatland (hirajiro). The castle types are named according to their location. This is because a castle's location is most important for defensive reasons.