Sadowara Castle

Sadowara Castle stands in the Sadowara district of Miyazaki City, Miyazaki Prefecture, and was one of the leading fortresses of Hyūga Province in the Sengoku period. Its origins trace to 'Tajima Castle,' said to have been built in the mid-14th century by Tajima Kyūsuke of the Hyūga Itō clan; the main Itō line later occupied it, and it came to be known as Sadowara Castle. After a fire in the Tenbun era, the Sengoku daimyō Itō Yoshisuke rebuilt it on a scale covering the entire hill, named it 'Kakushō Castle,' and made it the central stronghold of Itō rule over Hyūga (the 'Forty-Eight Castles of the Itō'). During the ensuing struggle with the Shimazu clan of Satsuma the Itō were driven out of Hyūga and withdrew to Bungo, whereupon Shimazu Iehisa, younger brother of Shimazu Yoshihisa, entered the castle as its lord. It is also known as a castle associated with Shimazu Toyohisa, who fought valiantly at the Battle of Sekigahara, and in the Edo period it served as the seat of Sadowara Domain. Excavations in 1996 uncovered the foundation of a keep and fragments of gold-leaf roof tiles, confirming that the castle had a keep-like structure unparalleled in southern Kyushu. Today the mountain-castle remains survive, and on the former second bailey stands the Miyazaki City Sadowara Museum of History, 'Kakushōkan,' a conjectural reconstruction of the palace. Its displays include materials relating to the Sadowara Shimazu family and items such as the Saigō scrip used by Saigō's army in the Satsuma Rebellion, conveying the history of Sadowara.