Hagi Castle

山口県

Mori Terumoto's post-Sekigahara castle — UNESCO World Heritage component and birthplace of Meiji Restoration leaders

Founded

1604

Type

Castle

Visited

Want to go

Access

About 25 min walk from JR Higashi-Hagi Station

Horiuchi, Hagi, Yamaguchi

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Info

Castle

Founded 1604

422 years

Overview

Hagi Castle was built by Mori Terumoto after the Battle of Sekigahara as the seat of the Choshu domain. A hilltop-plain castle with baileys on Mount Shizuki, its castle town produced many Bakumatsu revolutionaries including Yoshida Shoin and Takasugi Shinsaku. It is a component of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Origins

In 1604, Mori Terumoto, who had served as supreme commander of the Western forces at the Battle of Sekigahara and been reduced to the two provinces of Suo and Nagato, began constructing Hagi Castle at the foot of Mount Shizuki. The castle was designed as a hilltop-plain (hirayamajiro) fortress, with…

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1876

Hagi Rebellion Site

1876年（明治9年）10月28日、山口県萩で起きた士族反乱。旧長州藩士で征韓論者の前原一誠が、廃刀令・秩禄処分に反発する士族を率いて挙兵した。前原は萩・益田・浜田などに分散した約200名の兵を指揮して各地の警察署・裁判所を占領したが、政府軍の迅速な対応により数日で鎮圧された。前原は逃亡を試みたが捕縛され、主要な参加者と共に処刑された。皮肉なことに、前原一誠は奇兵隊の幹部として長州藩の倒幕に貢献した人物であったが、明治政府の急速な近代化路線に反発して旧友たちと争うことになった。同時期に起きた神風連の乱・秋月の乱と合わせて「明治九年の三大反乱」と呼ばれ、これらの反乱を経験した西郷隆盛は翌年に大規模な西南戦争を起こすことになる。現在、萩城址は指定史跡として整備され、萩の城下町は世界遺産関連の観光地として多くの訪問者を迎えている。

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Related Figures
— 1

Mori Terumoto

Commander-in-Chief of the Western Army

Age 51 at founding

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Installed as nominal commander-in-chief of the Western Army at Sekigahara (1600) yet never taking the field himself, Mori Terumoto saw his domain slashed to 298,000 koku in Suo and Nagato after the defeat. He relocated to Hagi and began building Hagi Castle at the foot of Mount Shizuki in 1604 (Keicho 9). The Mori clan governed the Choshu domain from this castle through the Edo period, and the domain's reformist energy in its final years became a driving force of the Meiji Restoration.

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Visiting Information

Hours

Shizuki Park opening hours vary by season: Apr–Oct 8:00 AM–6:30 PM, Nov–Feb 8:30 AM–4:30 PM, Mar 8:30 AM–6:00 PM. Open year-round.

Admission

Admission: adults (high-school age and up) ¥220, elementary/junior-high students ¥100 (combined ticket with the Former Ashu-Mori Family Residence Nagaya).

As of 2026-07-17. Subject to change.

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