The castle of Fukuoka (福岡城) is located in the heart of the city inside Maizuru Koen, a hillside park that is directly connected to the bigger Ōhori Park.
The castle was originally built by Kobayakawa Hideaki (小早川 秀秋) in 1588, in the province of Chikuzen, and was called Najima Castle (名島城). It was one out of three castles that had direct connections to Nobunaga Oda, giving them enormous importance.
After the battle of Sekigahara, the province of Chikuzen fell into the hands of Kuroda Nagamasa (黒田 長政), who gave up the original castle of Najima, moved the whole infrastructure 300 meters southwest and called it Fukuoka. This would not only affect the castle itself but the whole city, which was built around it – the birth of Fukuoka. It was, however, still separated from the Hakata area. Commonly referred to as “stone castle”, Fukuoka Castle was the mightiest castle on the whole island of Kyūshū.
The Kuroda family ruled for 12 generations and over a long period of 270 years from its impressive castle.
Even though the castle was decommissioned in 1871 with buildings being disassembled and moved and leaving only ruins behind, it shaped the name and the history of the city of Fukuoka as we know it today.
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