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Kumamoto Castle

{{Short description|Castle in Kumamoto, Japan}}

{{Infobox military installation

|name= Kumamoto Castle

|native_name={{noitalic|{{lang|ja|熊本城}}}}

|partof=

|location= Chūō-ku, Kumamoto, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan

|image= Kumamoto_Castle_Keep_Tower_20221022-3.jpg

|image_size= 300px

| mapframe = yes

| mapframe-wikidata = yes

| mapframe-zoom = 14

| mapframe-frame-width = 300

|type= Azuchi-Momoyama castle

|built=

  • 1467 (original fortifications)
  • 1496 (expansion)
  • 1601–1607 (expansion)
  • 1610 (Honmaru Goten Palace)
  • 1960 (reconstruction)
  • 1998–2008 (reconstruction)
  • 2016-present (repairs following Earthquake damage)

|builder=

  • Ideta Hidenobu (1467)
  • Kanokogi Chikakazu (1496)
  • Katō Kiyomasa (1601–1607)
  • Katō Kiyomasa (1610)

|materials= Wood, stone, plaster, tile

|height=

|used= 1467–1874 -1945(as military base)

|demolished= 1877 (Satsuma Rebellion)

|condition= Restored in 1960 and 1998–2008. Currently under repair following damage caused by the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes.

|ownership=

|controlledby= Ideta clan (1469–1496)
Kanokogi clan (1496–1550)
Jou clan (1550–1587)
Sassa clan (1587–1588)
Kato clan (1588–1632)
Hosokawa clan (1632–1871)
Japan (1871–present)

|garrison=

|past_commanders=

|occupants=

|battles=

|events=

}}

{{nihongo|Kumamoto Castle|熊本城|Kumamoto-jō}} is a hilltop Japanese castle located in Chūō-ku, Kumamoto, in Kumamoto Prefecture.{{cite web|url=http://www.japanese-castle-explorer.com/castle_profile.html?name=Kumamoto|title=Kumamoto Castle – 熊本城 |author=O'Grady, Daniel|publisher=Japanese Castle Explorer|access-date=2018-05-01}} It was a large and well-fortified castle. The {{nihongo|castle keep|天守閣|tenshukaku}} is a concrete reconstruction built in 1960, but a number of ancillary wooden buildings remain of the original castle. Kumamoto Castle is considered one of the three premier castles in Japan, along with Himeji Castle and Matsumoto Castle.{{cite web|url=http://www.ktshawaii.com/our-blog/the-three-famous-castles-of-japan.html|title=The Three Famous Castles of Japan|publisher=Kobayashi Travel Service|access-date=2018-05-01|archive-date=2018-05-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180501161424/http://www.ktshawaii.com/our-blog/the-three-famous-castles-of-japan.html|url-status=dead}} Thirteen structures in the castle complex are designated Important Cultural Property.

History

Kumamoto Castle's history dates to 1467, when fortifications were established by Ideta Hidenobu. In 1496, these fortifications were expanded by Kanokogi Chikakazu. In 1588, Katō Kiyomasa was transferred to the early incarnation of Kumamoto Castle. From 1601 to 1607, Kiyomasa greatly expanded the castle, transforming it into a castle complex with 49 turrets, 18 turret gates, and 29 smaller gates. The smaller castle tower, built sometime after the keep, had several facilities including a well and kitchen. In 1610, the Honmaru Goten Palace was completed. The castle complex measures roughly {{convert|1.6|km|mi}} from east to west, and {{convert|1.2|km|mi}} from north to south. The castle keep is {{convert|30.3|m|ft}} tall.

The castle was besieged in 1877 during the Satsuma Rebellion, and the castle keep and other parts were burned down. The strength of the castle was demonstrated by its ability to withstand 19th-century weapons without falling. Saigō Takamori famously remarked, "I did not lose to the Meiji government. I lost to Lord Kiyomasa."{{cite web|url=https://serai.jp/hobby/173025|title=最後まで熊本城を攻略できなかった薩摩軍は全壊し、西郷隆盛は「おいどんは官軍に負けたのではない。清正公に負けたのだ」と言い放ったといいます。|date=21 April 2017 |publisher=Sarai|access-date=4 March 2024}} 13 of the buildings in the castle complex were undamaged, and have been designated Important Cultural Properties. In 1960, the castle keep was reconstructed using concrete. From 1998 to 2008, the castle complex underwent restoration work, during which most of the 17th-century structures were rebuilt.

The signature curved stone walls, known as musha-gaeshi, as well as wooden overhangs, were designed to prevent attackers from penetrating the castle. Rock falls were also used as deterrents.

In nearby San-no-Maru Park is the Hosokawa Gyobu-tei, the former residence of the Hosokawa clan, the daimyō of Higo Province during the Edo period. This traditional wooden mansion has a noted Japanese garden located in its grounds.

In 2006, Kumamoto Castle was listed as one of the 100 Fine Castles of Japan by the Japan Castle Foundation. On December 7, 2007, a large-scale renovation of the Inner Palace was completed. A public ceremony for the restoration was held on April 20, 2008.

File:2016 Kumamoto earthquake Kumamoto Castle Inui Turret.JPG

The castle sustained damage in a magnitude 6.2 earthquake that struck at 9:26 pm on 14 April 2016, in Mashiki town in Kumamoto prefecture. This event is substantially similar to the magnitude-6.3 1889 Kumamoto earthquake which also damaged the castle. A stone wall at the foot of the keep partially collapsed in the 2016 quake, and several of the castle's shachihoko ornaments fell from the roof of the keep and broke apart. It sustained further extensive damage the next day on 15 April following a 7.3 magnitude earthquake where some portions were completely destroyed. While the keep itself withstood most of the earthquake with little structural damage,{{cite web|url=http://www.spoon-tamago.com/2016/04/15/damaged-kumamoto-castle-actually-withstood-the-earthquake-just-as-ancient-architects-intended/|publisher=Spoon & Tamago|title=Damaged Kumamoto Castle actually withstood the earthquake just as ancient architects intended|date=2016-04-15|access-date=2018-05-01|archive-date=2018-05-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180501224616/http://www.spoon-tamago.com/2016/04/15/damaged-kumamoto-castle-actually-withstood-the-earthquake-just-as-ancient-architects-intended/|url-status=dead}} two of the castle's turrets were severely damaged and partially collapsed, more of the exterior walls at the foot of the keep also collapsed, and large amounts of kawara roof tiles on the keep's roof were also disrupted and fell from the roof as a result of the quake. The fallen roof tiles are actually deliberately designed to have done so – when the castle was constructed, such roof tiles were used so that in the event of an earthquake, the tiles would fall off the damaged roof, preventing it from being weighted down and collapsing into the building's interior.{{cite news|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/05/20/national/quake-damaged-kumamoto-castle-take-decades-restore/|title=Quake-damaged Kumamoto Castle to take decades to restore|work=The Japan Times|date=2016-05-20|access-date=2016-05-28|archive-date=2016-05-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160530162339/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/05/20/national/quake-damaged-kumamoto-castle-take-decades-restore/|url-status=live}}

Efforts to repair the castle began June 8, 2016.{{cite news|url=http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0003000418|work=Yomiuri Shimbun|title=Kumamoto Castle repair work starts|publisher=The Japan News|agency=Jiji Press|date=2016-06-08|access-date=2016-06-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160616140803/http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0003000418|archive-date=2016-06-16|url-status=live}} On April 7, 2018, the newly made shachihoko ornament had been installed on the top roof of the large tenshu tower with the second one being installed on April 12.{{cite news|url=http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0004406099|title=Ornaments return to Kumamoto Castle|work=Yomiuri Shimbun|publisher=The Japan News|date=2018-04-29|access-date=2018-05-01|archive-date=2018-05-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180501161448/http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0004406099|url-status=dead}} The restoration of the main tower was completed in 2019.{{cite news|url=http://www.portaljapan.net/2017/05/kumamoto-castle-repair-work-shown-to-media/|agency=NHK World|title=Kumamoto Castle repair work shown to media|publisher=Portal Japan|date=2017-05-19|access-date=2018-05-01}} The restoration of the Nagabei Wall was completed in January, 2021.{{Cite web|title=Quake-hit wall of Kumamoto Castle restored {{!}} NHK WORLD-JAPAN News|url=https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20210129_27/|access-date=2021-01-29|website=NHK WORLD|language=en}} The repair and restoration of the entire castle were scheduled for completion by 2037.{{Cite web |title=The 3rd Stage of Kumamoto Castle's Re-Opening {{!}} The Official Kumamoto Prefecture Website: More, More, Kuma-Motto! |url=https://kumamoto.guide/en/season/detail/94 |access-date=2024-04-06 |website=kumamoto.guide |language=en-US}} However, in November 2022, Kumamoto Mayor {{ill|Onishi Kazufumi|jp|大西一史}} announced that the reconstruction would take 15 years longer to complete, with full restoration scheduled for 2052.{{Cite web |script-title=ja: 大西市長 熊本城の復旧は当初の計画より１５年遅れる見通し |trans-title= Mayor Onishi predicts restoration of Kumamoto Castle will be 15 years later than originally planned|url= https://www3.nhk.or.jp/lnews/kumamoto/20221122/5000017556.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221122095123/https://www3.nhk.or.jp/lnews/kumamoto/20221122/5000017556.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 November 2022|website=NHK}}

Gallery

Old photographs

Image:Kumamoto Castle oldphoto 1871-1874.jpg|Castle in 1871–1874.

Image:Kumamoto Castle oldphoto 1874.jpg|Castle in 1874.

Image:Castle of daimyo in Kumamoto. Before 1902.jpg|Castle before 1877.

Image:KumamotoCastle_EdoPeriod_02.JPG|Model of the castle and city in the Edo period.

Present exterior

Image:Kumamoto Castle 02n3200.jpg|The steep stone walls.

Image:Kumamoto Castle 06s5s4272.jpg

Image:Kumamoto Castle 07n3200.jpg

Image:Uto-Yagura frm Sho tenshu.jpg|Uto yagura

Image:Kumamoto jo honmaru frm tenshu.jpg|Honmaru Palace of Kumamoto Castle as seen from the Tenshu.

Image:Kumamoto Castle Cultural Performance.JPG|Regular cultural performances in front of the main castle.

Image:Kumamoto_City_Tram_Oct_7_2012.JPG|Castle and City Tram

See also

{{Portal|Japan|Asia|History|Architecture}}

References

{{Reflist}}

Bibliography

  • [https://doi.org/10.1017/S0080440118000063 Benesch, Oleg. "Castles and the Militarisation of Urban Society in Imperial Japan," Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, Vol. 28 (Dec. 2018), pp. 107-134.]
  • {{cite book |last1= Benesch |first1= Oleg |last2= Zwigenberg |first2= Ran |title=Japan's Castles: Citadels of Modernity in War and Peace |year=2019 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-1-10848-194-6}}
  • {{cite book |title=An Encyclopedia of Japanese Castles | last=De Lange |first=William |year=2021 |pages=600 pages|publisher=Toyo Press |location=Groningen |isbn=978-9492722300}}
  • {{cite book |last= Mitchelhill |first=Jennifer |title= Samurai Castles: History – Architecture- Visitor's Guides |location= Osaka, Japan |publisher= Tuttle |date=2018 |isbn=978-4-8053-1387-9}}
  • {{cite book |last= Motoo |first= Hinago |title= Japanese Castles |location=Tokyo |publisher= Kodansha |year= 1986 |isbn=0-87011-766-1}}
  • {{cite book|title=Castles in Japan|author=Schmorleitz, Morton S.|year=1974 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/castlesinjapan00schm/page/114 114–116]|publisher=Charles E. Tuttle Co.|location=Tokyo|isbn=0-8048-1102-4|url-access=registration|url= https://archive.org/details/castlesinjapan00schm/page/114}}

External links

{{Commons category|Kumamoto Castle}}

  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20060111072211/http://www.manyou-kumamoto.jp/castle/ Kumamoto Castle official homepage (in Japanese, English, Korean, Chinese)]
  • {{Osmway|375062710}}

{{Coord|32.806063|130.705972|format=dms|display=title|type:landmark_region:JP-43_scale:10000}}

{{100 Fine Castles of Japan}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1467 establishments in Asia

Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1467

Category:1460s establishments in Japan

Category:15th-century fortifications

Category:Castles in Kumamoto Prefecture

Category:Buildings and structures in Kumamoto

Category:Special Historic Sites

Category:100 Fine Castles of Japan

Category:Satsuma Rebellion