Today we travel to another prefecture of Kyushu – Saga.

To be more precise, we will take a look at the City of Karatsu and its main attraction, the Karatsu Castle.

Originally built between 1602 and 1609 and reconstructed in 1966, Karatsu Castle is located at the so-called Karatsu Bay. Also called maizuru-jou or “Dancing Crane Castle”, it is special because its stonework rises out of the water.

However, there are doubts if the keep of the castle has ever existed, because the construction has never been authorized. Because of this, today’s keep is an assumption of what the keep might have looked like.

If you want to enter the castle, which contains a museum and offers an observation deck above, you will have to pay 410 Yen. It is opened all year except from December 29th to 31st. The area around the castle can be visited for free.

The easiest way to go to Karatsu is by subway. You just have to take the train to Nishi-Karatsu from Tenjin Station.