Saga Castle

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Saga Castle (佐賀城; -jō) is located in Saga City, Japan. It is a Japanese castle, which is notable for being built on a plain rather than a hill; and unlike most Japanese castles, it is surrounded by a wall, instead of being on one.

[edit] History

The castle was built between 1591 and 1593. A fire in 1726 damaged the building, and the castle was renovated two years later, but unfortunately a second fire occurred in 1835, damaging the castle once more. Within two years, however, Lord Naomasa Nabeshima had renovated it and moved in, and by 1874 the castle was used as a court building and a prefectural office, and in 1883 it became a junior school. The buildings were eventually replaced by modern school buildings, and today the castle is divided into two main buildings: Honmaru and Ni No Maru.

Saga Castle is also the castle where Yamamoto Tsunetomo, the orator of Hagakure Kikigaki, worked.

The castle was also home to the Nabeshima clan.