Nakatsu Castle

Built at a strategic location at the mouth of the Nakatsu River, it is the oldest modern castle in Kyushu, a water castle (sea castle) that utilizes seawater drawn into the moat. Along with Imabari Castle and Takamatsu Castle, it is considered one of the "Three Great Water Castles of Japan. "

In 1587, Kuroda Kanbei, who was given 6 counties in Buzen Province by Hideyoshi Toyotomi at the Kyushu Offensive Distinguished Service Award, built the castle, and then the Hosokawa family who entered the castle completed the castle. After the Hosokawa clan was transferred to the Kumamoto clan in 1632, Nagatsugu Ogasawara entered and the Nakatsu clan was established. The Okudaira family became the lord of the castle in 1717 after Masanari Okudaira replaced the Ogasawara family who had been exiled from the area.

The castle was abolished with the abolition of feudal domains, and the remaining buildings were destroyed by fire during the Civil War, but the castle tower was built in 1964, and historical materials are on display as the Okudaira Family History Museum. The stone walls of the main circle show the joints of stone walls from the Kuroda and Hosokawa eras. Recent surveys and restorations have revealed the actual remains of buildings from the Kuroda period and the expansion of the stonewalls.