Kumamoto Castle

Template:Short description Template:Infobox military installation

Template:Nihongo is a hilltop Japanese castle located in Chūō-ku, Kumamoto, in Kumamoto Prefecture.<ref name=castleexplorer>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It was a large and well-fortified castle. The Template:Nihongo is a concrete reconstruction built in 1960,<ref name=castleexplorer/> but a number of ancillary wooden buildings remain of the original castle. Kumamoto Castle is considered one of the three premier castles in Japan, along with Himeji Castle and Matsumoto Castle.<ref name=kobayashi>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Thirteen structures in the castle complex are designated Important Cultural Property.<ref name="castleexplorer"/>

HistoryEdit

Kumamoto Castle's history dates to 1467, when fortifications were established by Ideta Hidenobu.<ref name=castleexplorer/> In 1496, these fortifications were expanded by Kanokogi Chikakazu.<ref name=castleexplorer/> In 1588, Katō Kiyomasa was transferred to the early incarnation of Kumamoto Castle.<ref name=castleexplorer/> From 1601 to 1607, Kiyomasa greatly expanded the castle, transforming it into a castle complex with 49 turrets, 18 turret gates, and 29 smaller gates.<ref name=castleexplorer/> The smaller castle tower, built sometime after the keep, had several facilities including a well and kitchen.<ref name=castleexplorer/> In 1610, the Honmaru Goten Palace was completed.<ref name=castleexplorer/> The castle complex measures roughly Template:Convert from east to west, and Template:Convert from north to south. The castle keep is Template:Convert tall.

The castle was besieged in 1877 during the Satsuma Rebellion, and the castle keep and other parts were burned down.<ref name=castleexplorer/> The strength of the castle was demonstrated by its ability to withstand 19th-century weapons without falling. Saigō Takamori famously remarked, "I did not lose to the Meiji government. I lost to Lord Kiyomasa."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 13 of the buildings in the castle complex were undamaged, and have been designated Important Cultural Properties. In 1960, the castle keep was reconstructed using concrete.<ref name=castleexplorer/> From 1998 to 2008, the castle complex underwent restoration work, during which most of the 17th-century structures were rebuilt.<ref name=castleexplorer/>

The signature curved stone walls, known as musha-gaeshi, as well as wooden overhangs, were designed to prevent attackers from penetrating the castle. Rock falls were also used as deterrents.

In nearby San-no-Maru Park is the Hosokawa Gyobu-tei, the former residence of the Hosokawa clan, the daimyō of Higo Province during the Edo period. This traditional wooden mansion has a noted Japanese garden located in its grounds.

In 2006, Kumamoto Castle was listed as one of the 100 Fine Castles of Japan by the Japan Castle Foundation. On December 7, 2007, a large-scale renovation of the Inner Palace was completed. A public ceremony for the restoration was held on April 20, 2008.

File:2016 Kumamoto earthquake Kumamoto Castle Inui Turret.JPG

One of the turrets damaged by the 2016 earthquakes

The castle sustained damage in a magnitude 6.2 earthquake that struck at 9:26 pm on 14 April 2016, in Mashiki town in Kumamoto prefecture. This event is substantially similar to the magnitude-6.3 1889 Kumamoto earthquake which also damaged the castle. A stone wall at the foot of the keep partially collapsed in the 2016 quake, and several of the castle's shachihoko ornaments fell from the roof of the keep and broke apart. It sustained further extensive damage the next day on 15 April following a 7.3 magnitude earthquake where some portions were completely destroyed. While the keep itself withstood most of the earthquake with little structural damage,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> two of the castle's turrets were severely damaged and partially collapsed, more of the exterior walls at the foot of the keep also collapsed, and large amounts of kawara roof tiles on the keep's roof were also disrupted and fell from the roof as a result of the quake. The fallen roof tiles are actually deliberately designed to have done so – when the castle was constructed, such roof tiles were used so that in the event of an earthquake, the tiles would fall off the damaged roof, preventing it from being weighted down and collapsing into the building's interior.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Efforts to repair the castle began June 8, 2016.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On April 7, 2018, the newly made shachihoko ornament had been installed on the top roof of the large tenshu tower with the second one being installed on April 12.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The restoration of the main tower was completed in 2019.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The restoration of the Nagabei Wall was completed in January, 2021.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The repair and restoration of the entire castle were scheduled for completion by 2037.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> However, in November 2022, Kumamoto Mayor Template:Ill announced that the reconstruction would take 15 years longer to complete, with full restoration scheduled for 2052.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

GalleryEdit

Old photographs

Kumamoto Castle oldphoto 1871-1874.jpg

Castle in 1871–1874.
Kumamoto Castle oldphoto 1874.jpg

Castle in 1874.
Castle of daimyo in Kumamoto. Before 1902.jpg

Castle before 1877.
KumamotoCastle EdoPeriod 02.JPG

Model of the castle and city in the Edo period.

Present exterior

Kumamoto Castle 02n3200.jpg

The steep stone walls.
Kumamoto Castle 06s5s4272.jpg
Kumamoto Castle 07n3200.jpg
Uto-Yagura frm Sho tenshu.jpg

Uto yagura
Kumamoto jo honmaru frm tenshu.jpg

Honmaru Palace of Kumamoto Castle as seen from the Tenshu.
Kumamoto Castle Cultural Performance.JPG

Regular cultural performances in front of the main castle.
Kumamoto City Tram Oct 7 2012.JPG

Castle and City Tram

ReferencesEdit

Template:Reflist

BibliographyEdit

External linksEdit

Template:Sister project

Template:Coord

Template:100 Fine Castles of Japan Template:Authority control