Kokura Castle

not personally visited

History

In 1600 after the Battle of Sekigahara, Hosokawa Tadaoki was rewarded the lands of Buzen and Bungo. The ruling castle of the area was really at Nakatsu Castle, but Hosokawa found Kokura to be a much more convenient place from which to rule. It is also located at the vital point in transportation between Kyushu and Honshu. He started building Kokura Castle in 1602 and completed it in 1608.

Hosokawa's Son, Tadatoshi, was moved to Kumamoto in 1632. Ogasawara Tadazane replaced him and 9 generations of his descendents ruled for the next 230 years. The main keep burned down in a fire in 1837 and was not rebuilt. The castle itself was intentionally burned down and abandoned in 1866 when the Ogasawara fled Kokura during the second Battle of Shochuseito.

The reconstructed castle you see today is borogata style with decorative gables called kara hafu and irimoya hafu, but the original main keep was a very simple sotogata and had no such gables.

Field Notes

not personally visited

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Gallery

• 

  main keep
• 

  main keep
• 

  donjon
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  yagura
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  moat
• 

  Photos from here by ART
• 

  View of main keep and outer moat
• 

  Villa buildings of Goyusho as seen from the keep
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  Mogi-tenshu and tenshudai
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  Ishigaki and dobei at main gate site
• 

  Tsukimi-yagura (recon.) seen from Tamonguchi masugata
• 

  Tsukimi-yagura (reconstructed)
• 

  Model showing how the donjon complex really looked!
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• 
• 
• 

  Meiji period lighthouse
• 
• 

  Mogi-tenshu and faux-reconstructed keep with connecting corridor
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

  shachihoko on ahistorical gable of keep
• 
• 

Castle Profile
English Name	Kokura Castle
Japanese Name	小倉城
Alternate Names	Katsuyama-jo, Yuukin-jo
Founder	Hosokawa Tadaoki
Year Founded	1608
Castle Type	Flatland
Castle Condition	Reconstructed main keep
Designations	Next 100 Castles
Historical Period	Edo Period
Main Keep Structure	4 levels, 5 stories
Year Reconstructed	1959 (concrete)
Features	main keep, turrets, water moats, stone walls, walls
Visitor Information
Access	Kokura Sta. (Kagoshima Line)
Hours
Time Required
URL	Castle Website
Location	Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture
Coordinates	33.88442, 130.87426
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Admin
Added to Jcastle	2006
Admin Year Visited	Viewer Contributed

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