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Best Things to Do
Popular Best Things to Do in Saga [2025]
Table of contents
Saga Castle Ruins
4.3
/5
50 reviews
5.0
525m from downtown
Phone +81952417550
Address: 2 Chome-18-1 Jonai, Saga, 840-0041, Japan
Recommended sightseeing time: 1 hour
Highlights:
Unique castle on flatland
Edo-era domain office site
Verified user reviews
There are not many places to visit in Saga, but Saga Castle is worth a visit. In the evening, the setting sun falls on the Saga Castle History Museum like molten gold, giving this ancient city a soft and mysterious golden coat. Stepping lightly, stepping into this land treated gently by time, it seems as if you have traveled through the tunnel of time and space and returned to that turbulent era.
Saga Castle, whose history can be traced back to the early Edo period, was once the location of the Saga Domain Office. However, after many wars and fires, Saga Castle has been damaged several times. Especially in the Saga Rebellion in the early Meiji era, most of the buildings in the city were burned down, and only the city walls and gates were preserved. The Saga Castle History Museum we see today was built on the basis of the reconstruction by the then domain lord Nabeshima Naomasa in 1838, and has been maintained and restored.
The History Museum stands quietly under the city wall. Without the hustle and bustle of the day, it is more solemn and quiet at this moment. The city wall, the mottled stones, every brick and tile are engraved with the stories of the past. They have witnessed the changes of countless dynasties and the baptism of wind and rain, but they still stand tall, guarding the memory and glory of this land. Walking along the city wall, you can still vaguely hear the echo of history
Walking into the history museum, the lights are soft and the atmosphere is warm. With more than 700 tatami mats, it is one of the largest wooden restoration buildings in Japan. The museum displays a variety of exhibits, from ancient weapons to exquisite works of art, from documentary records to daily utensils, each of which carries the weight of history and tells the past and present of Saga Castle. In particular, those historical materials related to the late shogunate and the Meiji Restoration period, through materials, images and models, present the history of this period in many ways, making people feel as if they are in that turbulent era.
Saga Castle (さがじょう) is a castle in Saga City, Saga Prefecture, Japan. Located in the center of Saga City, the castle is a compound flat castle with multiple outer moats. Saga Castle was renovated from Nakamura Castle of the Ryuzoji clan. In 1584, Ryuzoji Takanobu was killed in a battle with the Shimazu-Arima coalition, and the Nabeshima clan took control of the real power. Although Naoshige Nabeshima had a plan to renovate the castle at that time, he was afraid of the master and did not implement it.
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