Kitsuki Castle

Connection to Swords

Kitsuki Castle's connection to Japanese swords cannot be discussed apart from the presence of Ōtomo Sōrin, the mightiest warlord of Sengoku-era Kyushu. The Kitsuki clan long served as senior retainers of the Ōtomo, and at the peak of the Ōtomo domain (mid-16th century) when they controlled six provinces—Bungo, Buzen, Chikuzen, Hizen, Higo, and Chikugo—Kitsuki Castle also played a role in their military and logistics network. Ōtomo Sōrin actively advanced Southern Barbarian trade with Portugal, exporting Bungo swords, lacquerware, and mineral resources in exchange for firearms and gunpowder. Bungo Province had long been known as a source of superior iron, and Bungo swords (Bungo-tō) were a major production center for practical fighting blades that circulated nationwide from the Muromachi period onward. The Ōtomo warlords who governed the various castles of Bungo, including Kitsuki Castle, carried practical fighting blades forged by Bungo smiths as they contended for dominance over Kyushu. The Shimazu invasion of Bungo in Tenshō 14 (1586) exerted a major impact on Kyushu's sword culture. Many Bungo smiths fled the devastation of war and relocated to other provinces, and the Bungo sword tradition faced a temporary crisis of discontinuity. However, when Kitsuki Domain achieved stability in the Edo period, Bungo smiths resumed their work to meet the sword needs of the domain's samurai, and the collection of daimyo Matsudaira included excellent Bungo swords. Armor, swords, and old documents continue to be preserved in private collections among the samurai residences of Kitsuki Castle. The Kitsuki Castle Town Museum displays materials related to Kitsuki's castle town and samurai culture, allowing visitors to encounter historical materials connected to both the Ōtomo and Matsudaira families. In understanding the cultural lineage of Bungo swords, Kitsuki Castle remains an indispensable point of reference.