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 .
Kaminoyama Castle
The first castle on this site dates to the early Muromachi period, when the area was under the control of the Tendō clan. The area was contested between the Mogami clan and the Date clan, changing hands several times. The foundations of the present castle were built by Takenaga Yoshitada, a retainer of the Mogami, in 1535. However, after the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate, the Mogami were dispossessed, and a new 40,000 "koku" domain, Kaminoyama Domain was created. Thereafter the castle and Kaminoyama Domain passed through a number of daimyo clans, often for only a generation or two, and its revenues were often reduced. Under the Toki clan, a donjon was built, but it was destroyed when the clan was transferred elsewhere in 1692. In 1697, the castle came under the control of the Fujii branch of the Matsudaira clan, which continued to rule over Kaminoyama Domain until the Meiji restoration.