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Kumamoto Castle

Kumamoto Castle

Photo: Suicasmo · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Location
Kumamoto, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan
Client / Owner
Katō Kiyomasa
Year
Completed 1610
Access
Tickets required

Kumamoto Castle in Kumamoto Prefecture began as fortifications built by Ideta Hidenobu in 1467 and was expanded by Kanokogi Chikakazu in 1496. Katō Kiyomasa expanded it from 1601 to 1607 and completed the Honmaru Goten Palace in 1610. The article names no architect, and the infobox lists an Azuchi-Momoyama castle.

The complex measures about 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) east to west and 1.2 kilometers north to south, with a keep 30.3 meters (99 feet) tall. It originally had 49 turrets, 18 turret gates and 29 smaller gates. Curved stone walls called musha-gaeshi were a defense. The keep burned in 1877 during the Satsuma Rebellion and was rebuilt in concrete in 1960.

The April 2016 earthquakes partly collapsed stone walls at the keep's base and badly damaged two turrets. The main tower repair finished in 2019, and full completion moved from 2037 to 2052 in November 2022. The infobox says demolished 1877, though the castle still stands.

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