Fukuoka: Front Gate to Return to Fukuoka Castle; City Mulls Purchasing It from Sofukuji Temple

The Yomiuri Shimbun

18:37 JST, March 7, 2026

FUKUOKA — The main gate of Fukuoka Castle, which was relocated to a temple in the city in the early 20th century, will return to the ruins of the castle in the city’s Chuo Ward.

The city government has budgeted for the purchase of the Honmaru Omote-Gomon gate, which once stood on the northern side of the castle’s central keep area.

According to the city government, the wooden gate, which has been designated a Fukuoka Prefecture tangible cultural property, is about 12 meters tall and about 10 meters wide.

After the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1867, facilities for the former Imperial Japanese army were constructed at the castle site. The army sold the gate, which was then moved to Sofukuji temple in 1918, where it was installed as the main entrance. Sofukuji is a family temple of the Kuroda clan, who were feudal lords of the Fukuoka domain.

The gate at the castle’s rear entrance also was moved to another location in Fukuoka but was destroyed during an air raid in World War II.

The city government has pushed ahead with efforts to restore and maintain the castle ruins and been negotiating with the temple over the purchase of the surviving gate. After the city acquires the gate in fiscal 2026, it will be dismantled, and the city government will look at the construction process and other restoration steps.

Also in fiscal 2026, the city government will continue a literature review and excavation survey as it aims to restore the tenshudai, the stone wall base of the castle tower.