Hiji　Castle　Ruins

Following his success in the Battle of Sekigahara, Nobutoshi Kinoshita, the first lord of Hiji Domain, carried 30,000 goku, which were units of rice to feed vassals. Upon his arrival in Hiji, Bungo Province in 1601, he set about constructing a castle. By August of the following year, it was almost constructed, so he moved in. Demarcation of the castle layout was carried out by Tadaoki Hosokawa, his brother-in-law. The husband of Hosokawa Gracia, Tadaoki was the elder brother of Kaga, Nobutoshi's legal wife. He would later become the first lord of the Kokura Domain in Buzen Province. The castle walls were constructed of quarried stone by vassals working under Ano Rieimon, a master builder. Lumber from Kanagoe wood was used to build the walls. It is also known by the name Youkoku-jo, or the Castle of Sunrise Valley. This name is said to have come from the following verse found in Enanji, a classical Chinese text: "As the sun rises, the Kan valley pond is bathed in light". Starting from the inner citadel of the three-story castle tower, two-story watchtowers were placed in 5 locations, and a weapon storehouse was built. These were in the center of a triple wall structure equipped with an outer citadel and the outermost regions of the castle. Beyond the castle walls, samurai and private residences gathered. In 1874, Oita Prefcture sold the castle's interior structures in an auction, most of which were destroyed. However, one of the watchtowers was relocated. Called Kimon Yagura, it was restored to its original state in 2013. Currently, the ruins of the castle tower, walls, and moats remain. Inside the castle, Hiji Elementary School was built. Next to the front gate are bronze statues of famous figures from Hiji. One statue is of Banri Hoashi, one of the Three Sages of Bungo. He was a successful Confucian scholar and government official at the end of the Edo Era. Another is of Meiji-Era pianist and composer Taki Rentaro, whose family held important posts in service to successive generations of the Hiji Domain.