Nakatsu Castle

Nakatsu Castle is a Japanese castle in Nakatsu City, Oita Prefecture, and it also houses the Okudaira Family Historical Museum. Completed in 1621, it is a “water castle” where seawater enters through gates, and along with Takamatsu Castle and Imabari Castle, it is known as one of Japan’s Three Great Water Castles. At the Okudaira Family Historical Museum, you can see valuable Okudaira family documents and treasures, and the conch shell (horagai) is especially worth seeing. Inside Nakatsu Castle, there are many earthen ramparts known as Okakoi-yama, which have been beautifully restored. On the stone walls, you can find Y-shaped traces of stone wall repairs from the Kuroda and Hosokawa periods, and it is fun to search for them. You can also enter the castle keep. Nakatsu Castle became widely famous through the Taiga drama “Gunshi Kanbei,” and it remains a popular tourist attraction today. Nearby, sites such as Nakatsu Daijingu Shrine, Okudaira Shrine, Nakatsu Shrine, and the former residence and memorial museum of Fukuzawa Yukichi are clustered together, and it is recommended to sightsee them as a set. Paid volunteer guides are also available, so visitors who want more in-depth stories should use a guide. Access to Nakatsu Castle is about a 15-minute walk from Nakatsu Station.