Harajo Castle Ruins

Site of Historic Battle field of Shimabara Rebellion

Harajo Castle Ruins is UNESCO World Heritage site

The site is located in Minami-arima in Minami-Shimabara-city and the Battle field

of Shimabara Rebellion which was a peasant uprising agaist bakufu’s persecution of

Christians under the leadership of Amakusa Shiro in 1637.

It was founded by Arima Takazumi in 1496 and was a flat castle with a fortress naturally created

both by the cliff facing Ariake Sea and the tide coming in. This Castle was abandoned since

Matsudaira.

Shigemasa, the load of Shimabara, built Shimabara Castle after the rupture of Arima family ties.

Christian farmers rose in a riot due to their grievance about the oppression by Matsukura

Shigemasa.

The Shogunate regarded this riot as Christian rebellion and sent its punitive force, therefore

locked themselves in the castle and with their leader Amakusa Shiro Tokisada fought against

the Shogunate.

On February 27, 1638, he died in battle. The following day, the castle fell. 37,000 Christians

including women and children died a violent death.

It is registered on the UNESCO World Heritage as Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region

in 2018.

Location of Shimabara

General information

Address

Minamiarima-cho, Minami-Shimabara-city, Nagasaki-prefecture

Access

50 minutes by a vehicle from Shimabara-city

50 minutes by a vehicle from Unzen-city

100 minutes by a vehicle from Nagasaki-city

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