Saga Castle Honmaru History Museum

photo by そらみみ · CC BY-SA 4.0

photo by そらみみ · CC BY-SA 4.0

The Shachi-no-mon gate of 1838 still bears the bullet holes of the 1874 rebellion.

The two-storey gate, topped by a pair of bronze shachihoko, leads into the first honmaru palace rebuilt anywhere in Japan: almost 2,500 square metres of Edo-style halls, re-erected while preserving the surviving structures of the Tenpō period. Volunteer guides, and on Sundays a short performance in costume, tell of Saga's role in the modernisation of the late nineteenth century.

A history museum devoted to the role of the Saga domain in the bakumatsu period and the Meiji Restoration, opened in the rebuilt palace of the castle's honmaru. The Shachi-no-mon gate and the attached turret, built in 1838 (Tenpō 9), have been a national Important Cultural Property since 1957, under the single designation ‘佐賀城鯱ノ門及び続櫓’.

ℹ️ Open 9:30–18:00, closed from 29 December to 1 January. Pay-what-you-like entry: it is not a fixed-price ticket, but a voluntary contribution (募金) is requested.

🚉 Saga · 28 min walk

Sources: ja.wikipedia.org · saga-museum.jp

All series · Open the map