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 .
Kumamoto
Katō Kiyomasa, a contemporary of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, was made "daimyō" of half of the (old) administrative region of Higo in 1588. After that, Kiyomasa built Kumamoto Castle. Due to its many innovative defensive designs, Kumamoto Castle was considered impregnable, and Kiyomasa enjoyed a reputation as one of the finest castle-builders in Japanese history. After Kiyomasa died in 1611, his son, Tadahiro, succeeded him. Tadahiro was removed by Tokugawa Iemitsu in 1632, replacing him with the Hosokawa clan. The current administrative body of the City of Kumamoto was founded on April 1, 1889.