Karatsu, Saga
Due to its proximity to mainland Asia, Karatsu has long been known as a stopover to Korea and China.Under ritsuryō, the current city area was part of the Hizen Province. In 1591, on the coast of the northern part of the city (formerly the town of Chinzei), Nagoya Castle was constructed. The following year, it became the location from which the Imjin War was launched by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. In the middle of 1593, Terasawa Hirotaka created the Karatsu domain and began governing it. In 1602, replacing Nagoya Castle, Karatsu Castle was constructed in what is now the heart of Karatsu. The tower of Karatsu Castle was built in 1966 .
Yamagata Castle
The first castle on this site dates to the middle of the Muromachi period, when Shiba Kaneyori established himself as lord of the surrounding area of Dewa Province and built a fortified residence on the site of what is now the central bailey of Yamagata Castle. He later changed his name to Mogami Kaneyori, and the Mogami clan continued to rule for about 275 years. Mogami Yoshiaki rebuilt the castle in 1592, adding a second bailey and third bailey, and a number of two-story and three-story watchtowers. The castle never had a donjon. After the time of the Battle of Sekigahara, the Mogami ruled over a 570,000 "koku" domain; however, the clan was dispossessed by the Tokugawa shogunate in 1622. Thereafter the castle and Yamagata Domain passed through a large number of daimyo clans, often for less than a single generation, and its revenues were severely reduced. By the middle of the Edo period, the main bailey was allowed to fall into ruins, the second bailey was used as the residence of the daimyo, and the western half of the third bailey was plowed up for farmland.