- Type
- Castle
- Origins
- 1601 · 17th century per Wikidata: founding, first mention or construction
- Location
- Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan
- Coordinates
- 31.5985°, 130.5546°
History
In 1601 Shimazu Tadatsune (later Iehisa), lord of the Satsuma domain, began building a new seat at the foot of Mount Shiroyama. Completed a few years later, the castle had no main keep or tall turrets; it was more a fortified residence with walls and a moat, with the mountain behind it as the last line of defence. The Shimazu ruled Satsuma from here throughout the Edo period, and their domain played a key part in toppling the shogunate. In 1873 the main buildings burned down. In 1877, during the Satsuma Rebellion, the last battles of Saigō Takamori's forces were fought around the castle and on Shiroyama.
What to see
The stone walls and moat survive, and the Reimeikan prefectural history museum stands in the former main enclosure. In 2020 the monumental Gorōmon gate was rebuilt, said to be one of the largest castle gates in Japan. The walls by the gate are still pitted with bullet holes from 1877, and a path up Shiroyama leads to a lookout over the city and the Sakurajima volcano.
Wikipedia article Official website Wikidata Q1066957
Popularity: articles about this site in 13 Wikimedia projects (Wikipedia language editions and others).