A mountain castle overlooking the strait between Hirado-shima and mainland Kyūshū, Hirado-jō was the center of the Matsuura clan's power on the island of Hirado. The 26th Matsuura Lord built a castle called Hinotake-jō on the site in 1599, only to have it burn down in 1613. The successor castle of Kameoka-jō - the other name for Hirado Castle - was completed in 1718 after 15 years of work, permission having been officially approved by the Tokugawa shogunate. The castle was handed over to the Meiji government in 1871, after which it was mostly demolished, apart from the Kitakoguchi-mon and Tamon-yagura - a gate and tower which remain in their original wooden state still today. The central donjon was rebuilt in 1962, along with reconstructions of four other towers - the Inuisanju-yagura, Jizōzaka-yagura, Kensō-yagura and Kaiju-yagura - making for a very complete assembly for the visitor.