A huge city emerged here, where various people interacted with the 150,000 troops led by Tokugawa Ieyasu and other feudal lords from all over Japan. Nagoya Castle was abandoned within seven short years after Hideyoshi’s death, thereby becoming a phantom city. On the contrary, the Azuchi-Momoyama period was marked by the exchange of commerce between the southern barbarians and wealthy merchants of Hakata. Moreover, the Azuchi-Momoyama culture of Noh, Joruri, the tea ceremony, Karatsu ware, and the masonry skills of Anou-shu were developed in Karatsu. The masonry skills of the Ano-Ushu were also rooted in Karatsu. The first feudal lord, Terasawa Shimanokami Hirotaka, a close associate of Hideyoshi, implemented major changes to the mouth of the river under Karatsu Castle. He planted black pine trees on a sandbar stretching eastward (Nijinomatsubara) for facilitating the development of new rice paddies. In the fishing industry, fishermen were hired from Kishu and whaling was introduced. The castle was divided into main, second, third, and outer circles. The outer ring was protected by an outer moat, and the town was divided into Higashidera-machi and Nishidera-machi outside the outer ring.
-----This was the beginning of Karatsu----