Posted by Some positive news has come to light suggesting that there was indeed a tenshu built at Fukuoka Castle.
Recently, Fukuoka City Museum research discovered some fantastic information in the Fukuoka University archives. The Hatano Kenzo collection revealed some great news for people who believe that Fukuoka castle once had a tenshu.
The documents contain letters and books from the Mori Clan which contains information about the construction of Fukuoka castle stone walls (ishigaki) and more importantly the tenshu. The documents are dated from about 1640 to 1650. The only other known document from the time is a map from 1646 which did not show a tenshu in the castle complex.
The focal point of the research is a letter sent from Kajiwara Masabei, a retainer of Lord Kuroda, to Mori Jinbei, grandson to Tabei Mori a senior retainer. The letters describe events in Chikuzen shortly after the arrival of Kuroda Kanbei (Yoshitaka). It seems that the writer is also on friendly terms with Kuroda Nagamasa (Kanbei’s son) and second lord of Chikuzen. Most information about whether Fukuoka castle had a tenshu or not is hearsay, but this new research is considered a more reliable source. Communications between Kajiwara and Kuroda suggests that there was a tenshu built on the castle site, which is wonderful news for those who believe there was a tenshu at Fukuoka Castle.
Alright, so let’s get down to what is in the letter. Unfortunately we have only been given a snippet of the whole letter series but it’s better than nothing so here goes. The outline of the letter confirms that stones from Najima Castle were reused to construct the ishigaki of Fukuoka castle. At the time of construction, there were no stonemasons available and that the construction was done by amateurs (non skilled labourers). There was a shortage of stones from Najima (which makes sense, as Najima was much smaller than Fukuoka) and that extra stone was taken from Nokonoshima and broken down at Karatomari (also Karadomari).
The letter was translated from old Japanese, to modern Japanese and now to English by me, so I have done my best to make it readable.
‘The stones of the wall were made from Najima Castle. At the time there were no stonemasons or stone specialists. As non skilled workers built the walls, both the walls and the tower base was not solid. After that, Ogawa Choemon? and Riemon? were assigned the job of strengthening the walls. Stones from Nokonoshima and split at Karatomari. These smaller stones were then places/pushed inside the walls to strengthen them.’
This part of the letter tends to show how haphazard the construction of Fukuoka castle was. Why? I don’t think we know exactly but the construction does not seem to be very professionally done. I suppose the juicy part of the letter about the tenshu will be kept under wraps for now or when the Fukuoka City museum decides to put it on display.
Some picks of the tenshu etc I have on my HD and a copy of the letter and link below.
Stu.
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