Shimabara Road; Palanquin (Kago) Stands

Shimabara Road

Shimabara Road was a major road that circled the Shimabara Peninsula during the Edo Period (1603-1868). The road from Shimabara Castle to Aino (North Road), which runs half-circularly along the Ariake Sea on the northern side of the Shimabara Peninsula to Aino, is still called the ‘Lord’s Road’. It is so called because it joined the Nagasaki Road at Isahaya on the way to Edo (present-day Tokyo) during the pilgrimage of the daimyo (feudal lord) to Shimabara.

Along the road extending from the Shimabara City border east of here towards Mount Unzen are the ruins of Gomanchoja. These ruins are thought to be the remains of a representative temple in the Takaku-no-kori area of Hizen Province in the Nara period, and three burial mounds, including Koge Tomb, which is thought to have been built in the mid-6th century is called ‘Cave of the Demons.’

Palanquin (Kago) Stand

The palanquin or kago stand is where the lord had his palanquin placed when he took a rest. It is thought that this is where the palanquin stood to rest during a long journey.

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Kunimi Walking Map

Townscape of Kawanishi

The town of Kōjiro-Kawanishi flourished as a town of the Kōjiro-Nabeshima domain, which was established as an enclave of the Saga Clan.

There are still a few merchant houses in the shopping street that tell of the prosperity of the past, and a group of Ebisu statues from the history of the Saga clan still remain along the street.

Nabeshima residence is a 10-minute walk from Kōjiro-Kawanishi. Please come and visit.

Nabeshima residence was the former residence of the lord of Kōjiro in the Saga domain and was designated as a national important cultural property in 2007.

https://www.city.unzen.nagasaki.jp/info/prev.asp?fol_id=22441

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Former Honda Sake Brewery

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The Honda Family is an old-established family that has been running a brewery in the Kōjiro town centre for generations.

The existing building is a two-storey wooden structure, built in the Meiji period (1868-1912 ). The family residence and the shop are in the same building.

The exterior walls are plastered with white plaster for fire protection purposes, and the traditional architectural style of the roof and windows has been preserved to the present day.

The shop area on the ground floor, facing the road, is over 40 square metres in size. The pillars are made of large machilus trees, suggesting the prosperity of the Honda family in the past.

The building is a valuable example of a traditional Kōjiro merchant house.

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Kōjiro Castle Ruins

This medieval castle was built on a hill overlooking the port of Kōjiro. It is said that the castle dates back to the period of the Northern and Southern Courts period (1336-1392 ), when Takamasu Kōjiro entered the castle.

In 1584, at the battle of Okitanawate, where the Shimazu and Arima allied forces clashed with the Ryūzoji forces, the lord of the time, Kōjiro Takashige, sided with the Ryūzoji forces. When Ryūzoji Takanobu was killed in battle, the defeated Takashige took refuge in the castle of Kōjiro. Surrounded by the sea and marshland, the castle was well defended and the Kōjiro clan fought well but eventually perished in the ensuing battle.

Kōjiro Castle was granted to Nabeshima Naoshige by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1587. In 1608, when the castle came under the control of Nabeshima Nobufusa, it was rebuilt as a residence, but was later abandoned under the One Kingdom, One Castle Order.

It is said that cranes (‘Tsuru’ in Japanese) used to fly in the sky and turtles (‘Kame’ in Japanese) used to swim in the surrounding sea, hence the name ‘Tsurukame Castle’.

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Nagamatsu Residence

The Nagamatsu Family, were a samurai family for generations and resided at the southernmost end of Kōjirokūji. They are said to have been the educators of the Nabeshima Family.

The main house is a thatched, partly two-story samurai residence, probably built in the late Edo period (1603-1868 ). The wall surrounding the building, which runs from north to south, is built of natural stone and topped with hedging.

The building has been renovated several times since the Meiji period (1868-1912 ), but it still retains its original dignity as an early example of a large samurai residence.

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Central Masugata

The townscape of Kōjirokūji was built around the deposits of the Minotsuru River, which runs north to south, and was formed as a planned samurai town.

Bridges were built at the entrances and exits of the Kōjirokūji, which was surrounded by a river. There were also ‘masugata’ or walls built at right-angled turns at the entrances and exits to make it difficult for enemies to enter in a straight direction.

The centrally located masugata is no longer visible today due to the modern straightening of the roads. The site that remains today is a reproduction of the central masugata.

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Former Nakamura Family residence and Hoashi Family Nagaya-mon gate

Former Nakamura Family residence

In the past, the alleyways of Kōjirokūji were lined with thatched samurai houses facing the street. The former Nakamura Family residence was a prestigious structure with an entrance hall. It also had a wooden floor set up so that visitors could ride in a kago* without having to step on the ground. However, due to its dilapidated condition, it was demolished in the early 1980s.

*A ‘kago’ is type of litter used as a means of human transportation in feudal Japan and into Meiji Period (1868-1912 )

Hoashi Family Nagaya-mon Gate

The Hoashi family, who were chief retainers of the Nabeshima family of Kōjiro, have a Nagaya-mon gate facing the street and main building to the north. The main gate and the tatami room of the main building have been preserved. The main building has a thatched roof and a large tatami room, in keeping with the style of the high-class samurai houses.

The Nagaya-mon Gate is a ‘pseudo gate’ created in order to deceive the eyes of an invading enemy into thinking that it is the entrance to the Nabeshima Family residence.

It was originally thatched, but the present structure was remodeled around 1907.

Private residence, not open to the public

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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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