Kagoshima Castle

Kagoshima Castle, also known locally as Tsurumaru Castle, is a Japanese castle from the Edo period located in Shiroyama-chō, Kagoshima City, Kagoshima Prefecture. The common name “Tsurumaru” (Crane Circle) comes from the shape of the palace buildings, which was said to resemble a crane spreading its wings.

The castle was constructed in 1601 (Keichō 6) by Shimazu Tadatsune (also known as Iehisa) and served as the residence of the Shimazu clan until the abolition of domains in the Meiji era. Today, the ruins of Kagoshima Castle are designated as a National Historic Site of Japan.

Kagoshima Castle is a hirayamajiro (hill-and-plains castle), comprising Shiroyama and the palace complex (Tsurumaru Castle) at its foot. Shiroyama itself was once the stronghold of the Ueyama clan during the Nanbokuchō period and later passed into the hands of the Shimazu. On the eastern foot of the mountain, Shimazu Tadatsune constructed his residence, forming the Honmaru (main bailey), Ninomaru (second bailey), and Demaru (outworks), with stone walls erected around them. Despite being the seat of a powerful domain of “770,000 koku,” Kagoshima Castle was built without a tenshu (main keep) or massive stone ramparts. The Meiji-period writer Motomi Yasushirō described this as a “strange matter” in his work Satsuma Kenmonki. It is said that the modest design was intended to signal loyalty to the Tokugawa shogunate. At the same time, the Shimazu clan maintained the traditional mountain-castle style, constructing as many as 113 branch castles across their territory in what was known as the Outer Castle System.

The structure of Kagoshima Castle was relatively simple: the Honmaru lay to the north, the Ninomaru to the south, with a typical “yakatadukuri” (residential palace-style) layout that was weak in defense. To compensate, Shiroyama was designated as a fallback fortress in emergencies. The first castellan was Shimazu Tsunetoki, grandson of Shimazu Tadayoshi, but after his early death, no further castellans were appointed, and Shiroyama gradually became regarded as sacred ground and was closed off.

By 1873 (Meiji 6), Kagoshima Castle still retained its Ōtemon (Great Gate Tower), a two-story armory turret (bugusho-tamon), corner turrets (sumiyagura), and the palace-style residence hall. Early Meiji photographs preserve their appearance.

Today, the site of the Honmaru houses the Kagoshima Prefectural Historical Center “Reimeikan.” On the Ninomaru site stand the Kagoshima Prefectural Library, Kagoshima City Museum of Art, and the Kagoshima Prefectural Museum. Surviving remains include stone walls, the moat, the site of Saigō Takamori’s private school (Shigakkō) at the Demaru, and the stone bridge leading to the Ōtemon. Bullet marks from the Satsuma Rebellion are still visible on the school’s stone walls. The moat is now famous for lotus flowers, thought to have been planted during the Meiji period.

The Ōtemon gate has recently been reconstructed in wood. In February 2015, the Tsurumaru Castle Ōtemon Reconstruction Council was established as a public-private initiative to promote the project. Construction took place from September 2017 to March 2020, and the restored gate was officially opened to the public on April 11, 2020.