Site of Masunaga Fort

Masunaga Fort was a medieval stronghold on the Hazama River west of the castle town of Waifu (now central Kikuchi). The fort was established in the twelfth century by Kikuchi Masataka, one of the sons of Kikuchi clan patriarch Noritaka, who built a compound with earthen walls on the site and took the surname Saigo (“Western Outpost”) after the location.

The fort is thought to have played a key role in overseeing traffic on the river and storing crops and other goods awaiting transport from Kikuchi, a thriving agricultural region. It was part of a network of fortresses built by the Kikuchi clan to protect Waifu. The river flooded frequently, however, which made the fort difficult to maintain.

All that remains of Masunaga Fort today is the site of an old well and some earthen fortifications. A memorial to Saigo Takamori (1828–1877) is also located here. Saigo was a leader in the Meiji Restoration of 1868, which ushered in the modernization of Japan. Local legend holds that the Saigo of Kikuchi were Takamori’s ancestors.

※About the Kikuchi clan.（菊池一族とは）

※Other cultural property explanatory boards are also multilingual.（この他の文化財説明板も多言語化しています。）

増永城跡

　菊池十八外城の一つで、別名を西郷城ともいい、西郷区の若宮神社の境内を中心とした一画にあります。

　菊池初代則隆の子政隆が城を築き、西郷氏を名乗って以降代々この地を本拠として菊池氏に仕え行動を共にしたといわれています。

　この城は前面に迫間川を擁し、台城、正光寺城と提携して鹿本方面からの侵入に備えた城といわれますが、遺構としては敷地内に井戸跡、土塁跡が見られる程度で、城主の名が集落名として残っています。政隆の子孫は後に鹿児島に赴き、明治維新の英雄西郷隆盛を生みました。

　神社の境内の一画に、「西郷南洲先生祖先発祥之地」という大きな自然石の碑が建っていますが、これは徳冨蘇峰の筆によるものです。

　この城の鎮守社と思われる羽根木八幡宮、西郷若宮神社は創立が古く、八幡宮は菊池初代則隆、若宮神社は政隆の勧請とされます。