This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2015) |
Kagoshima Castle (鹿児島城, Kagoshima-jō), also known as Tsurumaru Castle, was a Japanese castle located in Kagoshima, Kagoshima Prefecture.[1]
| Kagoshima Castle | |
|---|---|
鹿児島城 | |
| Kagoshima, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan | |
 | |
  Kagoshima Castle  Kagoshima Castle | |
| Coordinates | 31°35′54.55″N 130°33′16.60″E / 31.5984861°N 130.5546111°E |
| Type | Japanese castle |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by | Shimazu clan (1601–1874) Government of Japan (1874–present) |
| Open to the public | Yes |
| Condition | Ruins; Otemon Gate rebuilt in 2018 |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1601 |
| Built by | Matsudaira Iehisa |
| Demolished | 1874 |
| Garrison information | |
| Occupants | Daimyō of Satsuma |
 | |
History edit
Kagoshima Castle was constructed in 1601 by Matsudaira Iehisa, head of the Shimazu clan and the first daimyō of the Satsuma Domain, during the early Edo period. A year earlier, Iehisa's father Shimazu Yoshihiro, one of the daimyō of the western alliance opposed to Tokugawa Ieyasu, was defeated at the Battle of Sekigahara. The castle was built shortly after the defeat and in the severe political tension with Ieyasu. Kagoshima Castle is notable for the small scale and fairly poor quality as a main castle of one of the richest domains 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.
Kagoshima Castle was destroyed in a fire in 1874 and not rebuilt, and is now only ruins with only the castle's moats and stone walls remaining.[2] Otemon Gate was reconstructed in 2018. Reimeikan, Kagoshima Prefectural Center for Historical Material is located on the site.
Access edit
Literature edit
- Benesch, Oleg and Ran Zwigenberg (2019). Japan's Castles: Citadels of Modernity in War and Peace. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 374. ISBN 9781108481946.
- De Lange, William (2021). An Encyclopedia of Japanese Castles. Groningen: Toyo Press. pp. 600 pages. ISBN 978-9492722300.
- Schmorleitz, Morton S. (1974). Castles in Japan. Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Co. ISBN 0-8048-1102-4.
References edit
- ^ 3089086539 Kagoshima Castle on OpenStreetMap
- ^ "日本100名城 鹿児島城" (in Japanese). 日本城郭協会. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
 | This castle-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |