Construction
In 1600, Nagamasa received huge rewards of land in Chikuzen Province for their contributions at the Battle of Sekigahara, and moved into Najima Castle (名島城 Najima-jō) to form the Fukuoka han. Najima Castle had been created by Tachibana Akitoshi and was expanded by Kobayakawa Takakage, but was much too small to accommodate a large han, leading to the selection of Fukusaki hill as the new castle site.
Construction began in 1601 (Keichō year 6). Yoshitaka was already an expert at establishing fortifications, and Noguchi Kazunari, a stonemason who had worked on Edo Castle and Osaka Castle, also directed the construction. Completed in 1607 (Keichō year 12) after seven years of work, the castle is said to have contained an impressive 47 yaguras, and covered an area of 47,000 square metres (largest in the Kyūshū region). Katō Kiyomasa of the nearby Kumamoto han lauded the castle for its grandeur. The dry stone fortification designed by Noguchi was especially impressive, giving the castle the name "Seki-jō" (literally "Stone Castle").
The castle and castle town were renamed to "Fukuoka" from "Fukusaki", after Fukuoka of Bizen Province (current Setouchi, Okayama), where the Kuroda family had originated.
Several minor repairs were made during the Edo period, and a full-scale renovation was conducted during the Bakumatsu period.
In 1871, (Meiji year 4) the abolition of the han system forced the abandonment of the castle. Many of the buildings inside the castle grounds were taken down or moved to other locations.
In 1920, (Taishō year 9) the kinen-yagura was relocated to Taishō temple in Yahata Higashi-ku, Kitakyushu. The building was moved back to its original location in 1983.
On August 29, 1957, the castle was decreed a historic site by the Japanese government. Additional gates and yaguras were also decreed historical artifacts by the prefectural government in 1952, 1961, 1971 and 1957.
Part of the Second Main gate was set on fire by a vandal in 2000. The reconstruction of the gate is currently under way.
Read more about this topic: Fukuoka Castle
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