Karatsu Castle
| Karatsu Castle 唐津城 |
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|---|---|
| Saga, Saga Prefecture, Japan | |
Donjon of Karatsu Castle
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| Coordinates | Coordinates: 33°27′13″N 129°58′41″E / 33.453539°N 129.978194°E |
| Type | Hirayama-style Japanese castle |
| Site information | |
| Owner | reconstructed 1966 |
| Open to the public |
yes |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1602-1609 |
| Built by | Terasawa Hirotaka |
| In use | Edo period |
| Demolished | 1872 |
Karatsu Castle (唐津城 Karatsu-jō?) is a Japanese castle located in Karatsu, Saga Prefecture, Japan. It is a hirayamajiro, a castle built on a plain rather than a hill or mountain. At the end of the Edo period, Karatsu castle was home to the Ogasawara clan, daimyō of Karatsu Domain. It was also known as "Dancing Crane Castle" (舞鶴城 Maizuru-jō?).
Karatsu Castle, which stands beside Karatsu Bay, is unusual in that the stonework is rises directly out of the water, using the ocean as a natural moat. It is a medium-size castle with the Honmaru (inner bailey) located on top of Mount Manto, the Ni-no-maru (2nd bailey) and the San-no-maru (3rd bailey) in the west, and the outer structures to the south.
The Ni-no-maru secondary bailey contained the palace of the daimyō of Karatsu and the domain’s administrative offices. The innermost bailey would normally contain a donjon; however there is considerable dispute as to whether or not it actually ever did. Records indicate that a stone foundation base existed from at least 1627, but the Tokugawa government never authorized the construction of a donjon tower. The present donjon is a modern reconstruction based on artists assumptions on what a Keichō period (1596–1615) donjon should look like.
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