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 .
Nagoya Castle
In November 1730 (Kyōhō 15), the golden dolphins were recast for the first time and covered in wire mesh. In 1752 (Hōreki 2), the large-scale "Restoration of Hōreki" corrected the tilt of the donjon, caused by unequal subsidence of its stone wall, and the roofs from the second level upward were tiled with copper. By 1788 (Tenmei 8), the accumulated debt of the Owari branch since 1767 (Meiwa 4) amounted to 215,000 ryō. As a result, the golden dolphins had to be melted down and recast with less gold in 1827 (Bunsei 10). A finer wire mesh covered the dolphins to hide the fact that they were less golden. In 1846 (Kōka 3), they were again melted down and recast for a third time.
Law and order broke down as the Tokugawa Shogunate came to an end. The Aomatsuba Incident took place in January 1868 (Keiō 4) in the Ninomaru Palace, and a stone memorial commemorating this event was erected in the 1920s. After the end of the Shogunate, the Owari branch decided to submit to the emperor. In 1870 (Meiji 3), Tokugawa Yoshikatsu demolished parts of the castle and donated the golden dolphins to the Imperial Household Department. They were removed from the main donjon in April 1871 (Meiji 4), transported by steamship from Atsuta Port to Tokyo, and were taken to numerous locations in Japan as a traveling exhibition. The female dolphin was displayed at the 1873 Vienna World Exposition.