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Shimabara Castle
(Hizen Province／Nagasaki Prefecture)
Originally, the Shimabara land belonged to the Arima clan of Hinoe Han, but after the Arima clan was shifted to Hyuga Nobeoka, Shigemasa Matsukura ruled in their stead with 40,000 Goku land value. Shimabara-jo was built during this time, starting from the 4th year of Genna era (1616) and ended 4 to 7 years later. Shigemasa abandoned the Hinoe-jo and moved to Shimabara-jo when it was finished.
Shimabara-jo was very big as the residence for 40,000 Goku daimyo, and although the building fees were covered by the profits from trading, the land tax and work stress were also said to be very large. Shigemasa's son, Katsuie, as well as the Amakusa ruler, Terasawa clan, imposed large taxes and oppressed Christian members, leading to the Shimabara rebellion. At this time, Shimabara-jo was surrounded by the riot army, but because of its heavy defense, the castle didn't fall and the riot army had to escape into Hara-jo instead.
The castle was abandoned during the Meiji Restoration, and although the buildings were destroyed, the castle tower was restored in the 39th year of Showa era (1964), slowly recovering its past image.
(2008/10/19 )
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