Folding Screen of Nagoya Castle in Hizen Province

Filling the six-panel screen, Nagoya Castle on a hill jutting into the sea and the townscape spreading at its foot are depicted as if seen from a bird's-eye view. At the upper center the buildings of the main enclosure, centered on the keep, are lined up, and the camps of the daimyo continue here and there on the surrounding hills. In the cove at the lower left float many ships, including red ones, and the sea and rocky shore spread in the foreground. Buildings and roads are drawn in fine lines, so the layout of the castle and town is easy to understand.

Nagoya Castle was built by Hideyoshi for the Bunroku-Keicho campaigns (1592-98) in what is now Chinzei-cho, Karatsu, Saga Prefecture. It is said to have been second in scale only to Osaka Castle at the time; daimyo from across the country gathered there to set up camps, and the castle town overflowed with people and goods. The screen is said to depict the scene around summer 1593 (Bunroku 2), and it has become an indispensable source for research on the castle and the camp sites.

The artist is said to be Kano Mitsunobu, the eldest son of Kano Eitoku, though the possibility that it is a preparatory sketch or a copy has also been pointed out. It is an Important Cultural Property of Saga Prefecture and is owned by the Saga Prefectural Nagoya Castle Museum, which stands on the castle site. The original is shown only for limited periods.