Karatsu

唐津市からつしKaratsu-shi

The old port facing the continent

Karatsu is a castle town on the Genkai Sea coast of Saga Prefecture, known for Karatsu ware pottery and the Karatsu Kunchi festival with its giant lacquered floats. Its name, 'port for Tang', recalls its role as a crossing point to the Asian mainland.

Overview

Karatsu lies on a bay of the Genkai Sea in north-western Kyushu. Its name is usually read as 'port towards Kara', the old Japanese word for Korea and China, and the coast was indeed a stepping stone to the continent: the Chinese Wei chronicle names a country of Mappō here, and at Chinzei on the Higashimatsuura Peninsula Toyotomi Hideyoshi built the headquarters for his invasions of Korea.

The town itself took shape when Terazawa Hirotaka built Karatsu Castle on a headland at the mouth of the Matsuura River in the early 17th century and planted the pine belt of Niji-no-Matsubara along the bay. The kilns around it produced Karatsu ware, a stoneware so widely used in western Japan that pottery in general was called karatsu-mono.

Since a series of mergers in 2005 and 2006 the city also takes in the fishing port of Yobuko, the sea caves of Nanatsugama, the terraced rice fields of Hamanoura and the offshore islands. Karatsu is well connected to Fukuoka, which makes it a popular excursion for its castle, beaches, seafood and above all the Kunchi festival in November.

Landmarks

Karatsu Castle
唐津城Karatsu-jō
A reconstructed keep on a headland between the bay and the river, nicknamed Maizuru Castle ('dancing crane') for the pine groves spreading like wings on either side.
Karatsu Shrine
唐津神社Karatsu Jinja
The town's tutelary shrine and focus of the Kunchi festival.
Hikiyama Exhibition Hall
曳山展示場Hikiyama Tenjijō
Where the fourteen Kunchi floats — lions, helmets, a sea bream, a dragon-headed boat — are displayed outside festival time.
Former Takatori Residence
旧高取邸Kyū Takatori-tei
The seaside villa of a Meiji coal magnate, combining Japanese and Western rooms and an indoor Noh stage; an Important Cultural Property.
Former Karatsu Bank
旧唐津銀行Kyū Karatsu Ginkō
A red-brick bank of 1912 supervised by Tatsuno Kingo, the Karatsu-born architect of Tokyo Station.
Niji-no-Matsubara
虹の松原Niji no Matsubara
A pine belt of about 5 km curving along Karatsu Bay, planted as a windbreak in the early Edo period.
Nagoya Castle ruins
名護屋城跡Nagoya-jō ato
The stone ramparts of Hideyoshi's invasion headquarters at Chinzei, with a prefectural museum on Japan–Korea relations.
Nanatsugama
七ツ釜Nanatsugama
Basalt sea caves near Yobuko, seen from the clifftop or on sightseeing boats.
Yobuko Morning Market
呼子朝市Yobuko Asaichi
A daily morning market of fish, dried squid and produce, counted among Japan's three great morning markets.

Districts

Castle town centre
The area between Karatsu Station, the shrine and the castle, with old merchant houses and pottery galleries.
Higashi-Karatsu
東唐津Higashi-Karatsu
The seaside area across the river mouth, with Niji-no-Matsubara and beach hotels.
Yobuko
呼子Yobuko
Fishing port famous for live squid, the morning market and the Yobuko Ōhashi bridge to Kabeshima.
Chinzei
鎮西Chinzei
Peninsula district with the Nagoya Castle ruins and the cape of Hado-misaki.
Hamatama and Hamanoura
Rural districts to the east and west, with the Hamanoura terraced rice fields stepping down to the sea.

History

The Nabatake site in the city has yielded some of the oldest known rice paddies in Japan, and the Karatsu area appears in the 3rd-century Chinese Wei zhi as Mappō, a stop on the route from Korea to the land of Wa. From 1591 Hideyoshi's Nagoya Castle and the camps of more than a hundred daimyō made the peninsula briefly one of the most crowded places in Japan.

Terazawa Hirotaka built Karatsu Castle between 1602 and 1608, and the domain passed through several daimyō families until 1871. In the Meiji era Karatsu became a major port for shipping coal from the mines of the hinterland, and the coal wealth of the era survives in mansions such as that of the Takatori family. Karatsu became a city in 1932 and in 2005 and 2006 absorbed the surrounding towns and villages.

c. 3rd c. CE
The Wei zhi mentions the land of Mappō, identified with the Karatsu area.
1591
Hideyoshi builds Nagoya Castle at Chinzei as the base for the invasions of Korea.
1602–1608
Terazawa Hirotaka builds Karatsu Castle and plants the pines of Niji-no-Matsubara.
1819
The first of the Kunchi floats, the Red Lion (Akajishi), is made.
Meiji era
Karatsu develops as a coal-exporting port.
1932
Karatsu becomes a city.
1966
The castle keep is built as a symbolic reconstruction.
2016
Karatsu Kunchi is inscribed with other float festivals on UNESCO's intangible heritage list.

Culture

Karatsu's identity rests on two traditions. The Kunchi festival mobilises the whole old town, whose neighbourhoods each own, maintain and pull one of the fourteen lacquered hikiyama floats; the youngest float dates from 1876, and the lacquer-over-paper construction is repaired and repainted by local craftsmen. Karatsu ware, revived in the 20th century by potters such as Nakazato Muan, remains a living craft with dozens of kilns in and around the city, and pottery shops line the streets near the station.

Festivals

Karatsu Kunchi
唐津くんちKaratsu Kunchi
From 2 to 4 November, fourteen giant floats are hauled through town and dragged into the deep sand of the Otabisho grounds near the shore on 3 November; an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property.
Yobuko Ōtsunahiki
呼子大綱引Yobuko Ōtsunahiki
A tug-of-war between the harbour and inland teams in early June, whose outcome is said to foretell the catch or the harvest.
Karatsu Yaki Pottery Festival
唐津やきもん祭りKaratsu Yakimon Matsuri
In spring, kilns and shops display Karatsu ware throughout the town, with meals served on local pottery.

Food

Yobuko squid
呼子のイカYobuko no ika
Live squid cut as translucent ikizukuri sashimi, with the tentacles later fried as tempura.
Karatsu sea urchin
唐津のウニKaratsu no uni
Sea urchin from the Genkai coast, eaten fresh in summer or preserved in salt.
Matsuura-zuke
松浦漬Matsuura-zuke
Whale cartilage pickled in sake lees, a Yobuko speciality dating from the era of coastal whaling.
Karatsu burger
からつバーガーKaratsu bāgā
Hamburgers sold from a van in the Niji-no-Matsubara pine grove, a local institution since the 1960s.

Getting around

JR Chikuhi Line trains run through from the Fukuoka City subway to Karatsu, taking about an hour and a half from Tenjin; the JR Karatsu Line links the city with Saga.
Buses from Karatsu's Ōtemachi bus centre serve Yobuko, Chinzei and Nagoya Castle.
Highway buses run between Karatsu and Fukuoka.
Ferries sail from Higashi-Minato port in Karatsu to the island of Iki; small ferries serve the offshore islands of the Matsuura area.

Day trips

Iki
An island of beaches, shrines and the Harunotsuji Yayoi site, reached by ferry from Karatsu.
Imari and Ōkawachiyama
The Nabeshima domain's porcelain village in a mountain valley, about an hour away.
Arita
The birthplace of Japanese porcelain.
Itoshima
The beach and café coast of Fukuoka Prefecture, on the way to Fukuoka.
Fukuoka
Kyushu's largest city, reached by through trains on the subway.

Other cities in the prefecture

CapitalSagaSaga-shiNabeshima castle town on the Ariake plain TownAritaArita-chōFour centuries of porcelain in one valley

Frequently asked questions

What is Karatsu Kunchi?

The autumn festival of Karatsu Shrine from 2 to 4 November, in which fourteen huge floats made of lacquer over paper and wood are pulled through the town by the neighbourhoods that own them.

What makes Karatsu ware special?

It is an unpretentious stoneware with iron-brown painting or mottled glazes, prized since the late 16th century for tea bowls; its simple forms are valued for bringing out the character of the clay.

How do you get to Yobuko from Karatsu?

By local bus from the Ōtemachi bus centre in about half an hour; the morning market and the squid restaurants are near the harbour.

Is Karatsu Castle original?

The stone walls are original, but the keep was built in 1966 as a museum and viewpoint; whether the Edo-period castle ever had a keep is uncertain.

Sources

1.令和2年国勢調査人口等基本集計 (opens in a new tab) — 総務省統計局
2.唐津市ホームページ (opens in a new tab) — 唐津市
3.Yama, Hoko, Yatai, float festivals in Japan (opens in a new tab) — UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage
4.Saga (opens in a new tab) — Japan National Tourism Organization