The ruins of Hizen Nagoya Castle are located to the north west from Karatsu in the Higashi Matsuura Peninsula. The blow picture shows the main gate of Hizen-Nagoya Castle.

Stone walls of the gate remain. The gate buildings were built on these stone walls.

Two pieces of stone Buddha statues are placed on the stone walls. Behind the main gate, the site of the bailey for solders houses was located.

After passing throught the main gate, you will see stone walls on your left.

The stone walls are partially destroyed. This was due to the Shimabara Rebellion happened from 1637 to 1638.

The stone walls of Eastern "Demaru" Bailey shown in the above picture were also destroyed. After passing through the third bailey, you will go up stone stairs to the Main Bailey. These stone walls were found by excavational investigations conducted in 1991.

The Main Bailey was located to the middle of the castle. The below picture shows the view from the South-East turret in the Main Bailey. You will see the basement of the main castle tower in the middle and the "Yugekimaru" Bailey in the left side of the picture.

To the left side, not shown in the picture, the Second Bailey is located. You will see how wide Hizen-Nagoya Castle is. It is said that Hizen-Nagoya Castle was the second largest castle in Japan in the sixteenth century.

From the South-West Turret, the "Tamon Yagura", hall turret, was connected to the Main Castle Tower. The site of cornerstones of the South-West Turret and the site of the hall turret were displayed on the ground, as shown in the below-left picture.

Also, the corner stones of the Main Castle Tower were shown in the above-right picture. The Main Castle Tower had five loopf and seven stories. The loofs of the Main Castle Tower were covered by gold foils.

From the site of the Main Castle Tower, you will see the "Genkai Nada" Sea in the direction of Korea. TOYOTOMI Hideyoshi might have crazy wishes to conquer Korea while seeing such peaceful scenery.

One hundred and twenty of his retainers also pitched their camp near Hizen-Nagoya Castle. More than hundreds of thousands military forces were stationed in this area. TOYOTOMI Hideyoshi should have seen the scenery that huge military forces stationed in this area were sent to Korea by ship from this area.

When I visited Hizen Nagoya Castle in 2008, excavational investigations were still being conducted in the Main Bailey. The ruins of Hizen-Nagoya Castle was designated as a Special Historic Site.

The invasion to Korea was stopped as soon as TOYOTOMI Hideyoshi died in 1598 and Hizen-Nagoya Castle was abandoned. Castle buildings of Hizen-Nagoya Castle were relocated to Karatsu Castle and Sendai Castle.

How to get there
From Tokyo or Osaka, take a "Nozomi" bound for Hakata. From, Hakata, take a subway to "Nishi-Karatsu". From "Nishi-Karatsu", take a bus to "Nagoyajyo Hakubutukan Mae". Or, take a bus to "Yobuko" and change to a connecting bus to "Nagoyajyo Hakubutukan Mae" from "Yobuko".

Other Historical Sites near by:
Ruins of Karatsu Castle
Yoshinogari Archaeological Site
Shiotatsu Historical District
Arita Historical District
Ruins of Saga Castle