Hirado Castle History and Tour | Nagasaki Prefecture | Japan

Destination Earth Presents: Hirado Castle History and Tour | Nagasaki Prefecture | Japan

Hirado Castle, located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan, has a rich and fascinating history that spans several centuries, reflecting Japan’s complex feudal past and its interactions with foreign traders. Here’s an overview of its history:

Early Beginnings and Feudal Roots

Hirado Castle’s origins date back to the 16th century when it served as a key stronghold for the Matsura clan, a prominent feudal family. The Matsura clan governed the Hirado Domain, a strategically significant area given its location along trade routes. Initially, the castle was constructed to provide defense and administrative functions for the domain, as was typical for castles in feudal Japan.

Foreign Trade and the Arrival of Europeans

In the early 17th century, Hirado became a critical port for foreign trade, attracting European merchants, particularly the Dutch and Portuguese. The Matsura clan, with its forward-thinking approach, established strong connections with these foreign traders, leading to the construction of a Dutch trading post in Hirado, known as the “Hirado Factory.” This interaction between Japanese feudal lords and European traders was a unique aspect of Hirado’s history, highlighting the domain’s openness to foreign influences during a time of growing isolationism in Japan.

Reconstruction and Decline

The original Hirado Castle was destroyed in the 1600s as part of the Tokugawa Shogunate’s consolidation of power. The Tokugawa regime, which was wary of powerful local lords, initiated a policy that required the destruction of castles to maintain centralized control. In response, the Matsura clan relocated and rebuilt a smaller castle on nearby Kameoka Hill in the 18th century, which became the Hirado Castle we know today. This new castle served as the Matsura clan’s administrative center until the end of the feudal period.

Modern Restoration and Historical Significance

The Meiji Restoration in the late 19th century, which marked the end of feudal Japan, led to the dismantling of many castles, including Hirado Castle. However, in the 20th century, interest in preserving Japan’s historical heritage grew, and efforts were made to reconstruct the castle based on historical records and plans. The current version of Hirado Castle, reconstructed in the 1960s, aims to capture the architectural style and significance of the original structure.

on this season of destination Earth akane and I head back to her home country of Japan to explore the southern reaches of the island join us as we make our way across Nagasaki prefecture as we learn about its Atomic past discover its incredible Countryside and Hike some of Japan’s most scenic trails where are we off to today let’s find out so today we are continuing our adventure in saikai National Park and we’re in the town called hilado so behind me is a building that I’ve been looking forward to going to for a long time so that is a Japanese castle and it’s been one of those things that I’ve wanted to cross off my list ever since I was a little kid so I used to play this video game called Age of Empires and for those who know what it is it’s just a battle game but one of the civilizations that you could play was Japan and one of the main buildings within this game were the castles they might be fortresses and being able to see one in person and very soon be able to go on in person that’s gonna just like achieve this childhood dream so I’m really excited to get going we’re going to be walking from here in town over there so hopefully put some really good views on the way but I think we know what’s going to take the cake there are fewer things in life that make life worth living then checking off childhood dreams going to see a castle any Castle Aurelia is one of those for me for those living in Europe access to true and bona fide castles is something within reach for all of us who grew up in the Western World they are nothing more than myth and fairy tales as we made our way around the shores of this small community the feeling of fulfilling this dream continuing to crust the trees as we got closer and closer heelito itself is an old city if you recall during our time at dejima back in Nagasaki City we learned that it was here in hilado that the majority of trade occurred before trading with Europe was shifted and controlled to that small man-made Island the history and age of the city presented itself with Old Stone Bridges and beautiful old homes foreign [Music] wanted to take a picture put her camera in between these and had a slightly difficult time getting him back out inside this area was an old anchor one that had existed in this place for hundreds of years like most fortresses and castles helado Castle was perched off the top of the hill overlooking the city as we climb closer glimpses of perspective views came into sight we were welcomed by stairs after stairs after stairs like climbing a mountain you may feel as though you are getting false Peak after false Peak thinking you finally made it to the castle itself it’s not until you round the corner and see the castle in its full on Glory that you get a sigh of relief and Marvel and the sheer beauty of the structure and there we were we had made it up all those stairs and right in front of us staring Us in the space was this beautiful White Castle the architecture especially in the the roofing was absolutely incredible the Japanese style is unlike anything else and it’s just it’s incredible especially when you get to see it in person and once we finally got there I couldn’t do I couldn’t want to do anything more than just walk through those front doors and see what was inside so we walk in and the castle itself was completely different than what I was expecting it was a museum and the way that it was put together was really really good you start out by watching a video and I’m actually going to be showing you that video here coming up and it was just a really really great way to experience the castle because you don’t need to understand Japanese in order to appreciate the artwork kind of gives you a little bit of that Visual History that you need in order to understand the area and the castle itself and it was just magnificently done once you’re going through the rest of it it is more like a traditional Museum where there’s displays and one in particular caught my attention and I absolutely loved it it was a complete and total Samurai suit and uh if you’re anything like me when you think of Japan Samurai is probably at the top of the list of the coolest most badass things about the country so the fact that I’m able to see an authentic suit there and get up nice and close and examine it and just look at the beauty and the craftsmanship super super cool [Music] foreign [Music] [Laughter] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] I’m not sure about [Music] yourself [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] as you work your way up the castle you’ll have the chance to explore different exhibitions including this one and an interactive game where you can answer questions about the history of the castle in the region all right so you gotta grab your sword here [Music] it’s like either the white to start hit it and I both decided to make it a little interesting and have a contest I thought she would win and have the total Advantage because none of the information in the museum was English and I could only base my answers on what I had learned in the past who do you think won well as it turned out akane thought she was supposed to hit the correct answer not Chop away the wrong ones one correct answer do you think I can beat you so in fact she actually got them all right except one now I can’t say that I misunderstood what to do as I pointed it out right from the beginning no I was just terrible [Music] one correct answer I’m no better than her currently the second one was something that I could do quite well all I needed to do was tap into my four-year-old self and start tracing unlike western words Japanese characters often describe a concept or word rather than spelling it out even being able to trace the words and then seeing the animation help me feel a little bit closer to the culture finishing up our time at the castle we headed up to the top to see the views and well there were many [Music] what’s left up last night [Music] throw the shoes [Music] I’m walking and I need to keep on going cause I can’t keep my mind off things I’d be better off to leave behind gotta be careful not to get stuck and so I walk can I keep on walking throw the shoes I said I know I am anytime I think anybody wants to know a lot have you ever been in Japanese castles before you say how um I went to Castle called tsuruga Joe and I Fukushima when I was middle high it was a school trip I love the the Castle from outside it was so beautiful but when it was into the castle it was just a I was about Middle High student okay it was so boring I didn’t enjoy at all and I was kind of worried about this Castle as well but when I enter inside wow they did really well the the important what happened in this area by a kind of Animation style and even you don’t understand Japanese I I think people know what going on and what happened it’s they did really well and then it’s pretty small Castle but I love the detail and the view is really beautiful and I think this is one of my favorite castle I would say so she made a really good point and that’s if you don’t speak Japanese unfortunately there’s not a lot of information here in English everything written on the walls is all Japanese but luckily they do have a lot of the animations like she said which help tell the story of what happened here give you some dates and it gives you kind of a brief history into what’s going on that said it’s something that I’m gonna have to look into after the fact because the details unfortunately are still lost on me