Nagoya castle (Hizen)
Nagoya castle was a castle built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in Hizen province (today, Saga prefecture) in northern Kyushu, to serve as a staging area for his invasions of Korea. Originally built in 1591, it rivalled Osaka castle in size and amassed around it numerous encampments for the respective armies of individual daimyô, as well as sizable communities of merchants and artisans. Following Hideyoshi's death in 1598, the castle was abandoned; portions of its architecture were relocated to temples, castles, and other sites elsewhere in the country, while what remained largely simply fell into ruin.
Today, numerous stone markers and explanatory plaques have been erected both within the bounds of the former castle and on the sites of the surrounding daimyô encampments. The Saga Prefecture Nagoya Castle Museum, a museum dedicated to the history of Japan-Korea relations, was established nearby in the 1980s.
