Layout of the Main Part of Kubota Castle
This floor plan was established in 1859 by the hand of Ishiguro Naonobu when his master Yoshitomo Satake (1848–1860) entered Kubota Castle to serve Lord Satake, who was then the young head of the Satake-Kita family. During the Edo Era, Kubota Castle was twice lost to fire, in 1633 and 1778. Naonobu’s drawing tells us how the castle was reconstructed after the fire of 1778, before its permanent loss to a third fire in 1880.
Floor plans of the castle were submitted to the shogunate more than once, but they were only rough sketches showing the layout of the gate and some corner towers. By comparing with “Great Collection of Documents on the History of Akita (Akita Enkakushi Taisei),” published in 1896, we can see that Naonobu’s drawing covered mostly the sections for administrative and public services.
One of the splendors of this castle was the huge square audience hall, which combined four 32-tatami-large halls (1 tatami = 1.6 square meters) next to a high-floored room for the lord.
