Kameoka Castle

Hirado Castle 平戸城
Hirado, Nagasaki prefecture, Japan
Keep of Hirado Castle
A 16th-century French depiction of Hirado Castle based on eyewitness accounts
Coordinates	33°22′07″N 129°33′27″E / 33.368575°N 129.557567°E / 33.368575; 129.557567Coordinates: 33°22′07″N 129°33′27″E / 33.368575°N 129.557567°E / 33.368575; 129.557567
Type	Hirayama-style Japanese castle
Site information
Open to the public	yes
Condition	reconstruction from 1962
Site history
Built	1718
Built by	Matsura Takashi
In use	Edo period
Demolished	1872

Hirado Castle (平戸城, Hirado-jō) was the seat of the Matsura clan, the daimyō of Hirado Domain, of Hizen Province, Kyūshū. It is located in present-day Hirado city Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It was also known as Kameoka Castle (亀岡城, Kameoka-jō).

Hirado Castle was built on top of a small, rounded mountainous peninsula facing Hirado Bay, surrounded on three sides by water.

After Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s successful conquest of Kyūshū, local warlord Matsura Shigenobu was granted Hirado County and the Iki Island to be his domain. In 1599, Matsura Shigenobu erected a castle called Hinotake-jō on the site of the present-day Hirado Castle. However, he burned the castle down himself in 1613, as a gesture of loyalty towards Shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu, having served in the losing Toyotomi side during the Battle of Sekigahara. In return, he was allowed to retain his position as daimyō of Hirado Domain under the Tokugawa bakufu.

The present Hirado Castle was constructed in 1704 by order of the 4th daimyō of Hirado domain, Matsura Takashi with the assistance of the Tokugawa shogunate. It was intended to be the keystone in coastal defense in the East China Sea region, as the government had by then implemented a policy of national seclusion against Western traders and missionaries. The design was partly influenced by the theories of the military strategist Yamaga Sokō. The new construction was completed in 1718, and the castle remained home to the Matsura daimyō until the Meiji Restoration of 1868.