The Kikuchi castle ruins are an archaeological site stretching over 150 hectares on a hillside overlooking the town of Kikuchi.
The site is the location of a 1,300 year old hill fort built in the 7th century by the Yamato government to protect the country from invasion from the Korean peninsula. Four hill forts were built in northern Kyushu, the Kikuchi fort was the furthest south and is believed to have been used as a support base providing the other forts with soldiers, weapons and food. Mentioned several times in historical documents the location of the fort was only identified in 1994 when large quantities of carbonised rice were discovered in a field.
Excavations have revealed that the site once held 72 different buildings, of these several have now been reconstructed. The most dramatic is the unusual octagonal drum tower, remains of similar towers have been found in Korea. Unlike the other forts, stone was not used, instead high earth walls were created using a tamping process that originated from China and Korea. This and the discovery of a tiny portable buddha statue of Korean origin in the reservoir has lead to speculation that the fort was created by or with help from the Baekje Kingdom, Japan’s allies in the Korean peninsula.
The park is free to visit, and a pleasant spot to walk around and explore or have a picnic. The information center has many displays on the archaelogical findings, only in Japanese, though there is a basic English information leaflet available. There also is a 15 minute film about the site which can be watched with subtitles.
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