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 .
List of National Treasures of Japan (castles)
The Japanese Sengoku period from the mid-15th to early 17th century was a time of nearly continual military conflict. Powerful military lords known as "daimyōs", such as Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi or Tokugawa Ieyasu, struggled to unify Japan. During the Sengoku period, because of constant warfare, a large number of fortifications and castles were built. Archetypal Japanese castle construction is a product of the Momoyama period and early Edo period.