Author: 雲仙市観光物産課

Former Kōjiro Village Kōjiro Junior High School building

In 1947, shortly after the war, the former Kōjiro Village Kōjiro Junior High School was opened.

The school was closed in 1962. For a time, it was used as a sewing factory, but in 2010 it was reborn as the Kunimi Exhibition Hall of the Unzen History Museum.

On the south side of the building is the Historical Museum Kunimi Exhibition Hall, which displays a variety of artifacts from stone tools dating back 30,000 years to glassware from the Showa period (1926-1989 ). The museum holds special exhibitions of the results of excavations at the site. The north side of the school has been restored to its original wooden form from the old Junior High School times, retaining the old pillars, floorboards and wavy window panes.

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Tenjin Bridge

Kōjirokūji is a samurai’s estate surrounded by a river which also functions as a moat. The Minotsuru River used to flow near Kōjiro Castle, but its course is believed to have been diverted in more recent times.

There were once three entrances to Kōjirokūji. There was also a stone gate across Tenjin Bridge, which stood at the bottom of the Minotsuru River, in the samurai quarter. Further north was the precinct of Tenmangu Shrine.

Historical photographs show that Tenjin Bridge was surrounded by huge pine trees, forming a worthy entrance into the estate.

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Kōjirokūji Preservation Districts for Group of Traditional Buildings in Unzen City

The Kōjirokūji district is lined with samurai residences, with the Nabeshima residence, the lord’s mansion of the Kōjiro Nabeshima domain of the Saga Clan, at its centre. The town is based on the samurai residences of the Edo period (1603-1868), and still retains the samurai architecture of the Edo period and the modern Japanese style houses of the Meiji (1868-1912) and Taisho periods (1912-1926) . The stone walls and hedges around the town, as well as Kōjiro Castle and the Minotsuru River, have preserved the historical atmosphere of the area.

The landscape of the town was selected as an Important Preservation Area for Groups of Traditional Buildings in Japan on 22 July 2005.

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Shimobō Cemetery

The tombs of Nobufusa I and Shigemasa II of the Kōjiro Nabeshima family, who ruled Kōjiro from 1608, are still visible.

After the establishment of the Kōjiro Nabeshima domain, Nobufusa stayed in Saga and dispatched deputies to rule Kōjiro, but moved his residence in the reign of the fourth generation Takanari.

The arrangement of the monuments, which are made of flat and elongated stone, and the appearance of the stone walls suggest that they were erected in honour of ancestors during the development of the area.

Private residence, not open to the public.
Please do not enter.

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Ebisu, the god of good commerce and bountiful fishing

‘Ebisu’, one of the Seven Gods of Good Fortune, is the god of fishing and prosperity.

The worship of Ebisu is popular with tradesmen and the god is enshrined in shrines and other places throughout Japan.

Saga Prefecture is said to have the largest number of Ebisu artefacts in Japan, with over 800 enshrined.

Kōjiro was part of Saga’s territory during the Edo period (1603-1868), when the samurai ruled the area. Kōjiro had a port leading to Saga, so it is thought that the worship of Ebisu was influenced by Saga’s culture and spread into the area.

Even today, seven statues of Ebisu are enshrined in the eaves of inns and shops facing the street.

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