Saga Prefecture

Saga Prefecture (佐賀県, Saga-ken) is a prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. With a population of about 780,000 and an area of 2,439 square kilometers (942 sq mi), it is bordered by Fukuoka Prefecture to the northeast and Nagasaki Prefecture to the southwest. The capital and largest city is Saga, while other major cities include Karatsu, Tosu, and Imari. The prefecture occupies a narrow, isthmus-like stretch in northwestern Kyushu, sandwiched between the Sea of Japan and the Ariake Sea. Its western region is famous for ceramics and porcelain, especially in the towns of Karatsu, Imari, and Arita.

In ancient times, the area now comprising Saga and Nagasaki Prefectures was known as Hizen Province. The name "Saga" dates from the Meiji Restoration. Rice farming has thrived here since antiquity, with evidence found at the Nabatake ruins in Karatsu and the Yoshinogari site in Yoshinogari.

During the Kamakura and Muromachi periods, over 100 feudal clans are thought to have existed in the region. A powerful samurai clan called the Matsuratō operated along the Genkai Sea. In the Sengoku period, the Ryūzōji clan expanded to control all of Hizen and Chikugo Provinces, plus parts of Higo and Chikuzen. After daimyō Ryūzōji Takanobu died, Nabeshima Naoshige took charge, and by 1607 the entire Ryūzōji domain was under the Nabeshima clan. In the Edo period, the area was called Saga Domain (Saga-han), which included three sub-domains: Hasunoike, Ogi, and Kashima. Also within today’s prefectural borders were Karatsu Domain and two territories of the Tsushima-Fuchū Domain. The Nabeshima clan, its illegitimate branches, and former Ryūzōji members ruled Saga Domain and its sub-domains, keeping the region relatively stable. However, the cost of defending Nagasaki rose, and financial troubles worsened due to the Kyōhō famine and the 1828 Siebold Typhoon. Reclaimed land from the Ariake Sea greatly increased arable acreage, and by the 1840s Saga Domain’s annual koku reached about 670,000—double that of 200 years earlier. Around the mid-19th century, Naomasa Nabeshima worked to fix finances, reduce officials, and promote local industries like Arita porcelain, green tea, and coal. Proximity to the international port of Nagasaki also brought foreign technologies, such as reverberatory furnaces and steam locomotive models. After the Boshin War, many from Saga Domain aided the Meiji Restoration. In the Meiji era, coal mines in Kishima and Higashimatsuura districts modernized, boosted by railroad construction.

Key events in Saga’s timeline include: the Nabatake ruins (estimated 6th century BC, end of Jōmon period); the Yoshinogari site (1st century BC, middle Yayoi period); Kii Castle’s defenses for Dazaifu after the Battle of Baekgang (665); the Hizen Fudoki (733); the Mongol invasions (Bun’ei in 1274, Kōan in 1281); Nagoya Castle’s construction (1591) and fall (1598); Karatsu Castle and Saga Castle (1602); Nabeshima clan control of Saga Domain (1607); the Nijinomatsubara Uprising (1771); the Kōdōkan school (1781); the Siebold typhoon’s devastation (1828, over 10,000 deaths); the abolition of the han system (1871); the merger into Imari Prefecture (1871); renaming to Saga Prefecture (1872); the Saga Rebellion (1874); incorporation into Mizuma Prefecture (1876); transfers to Nagasaki Prefecture (1876); Mizuma’s abolition and absorption into Nagasaki (1876); Saga’s re-establishment as an independent prefecture (1883); the founding of Saga city (1889); the Kyushu Railroad Nagasaki Line opening from Tosu to Saga (1891); rail extensions to Takeo (1895), Haiki (1897), and Nishi-Karatsu (1903); Karatsu’s founding as a city (1932); the Japanese National Railways Saga Line (1935); the Great Showa Merger forming Tosu, Imari, Takeo, Kashima, and Taku (1954, leaving 7 cities, 8 districts, 18 towns, 35 villages); closure of all coal mines (1972, last being Nishiki); the Genkai Nuclear Power Plant (1975); the Saga Line’s closure (1987); the Yoshinogari History Park (1992); Saga Airport (1998); and the Great Heisei Merger reorganizing municipalities in 2005 (Karatsu and Shiroishi; Ogi and Miyaki; Saga) and 2006 (Karatsu and Ureshino; Takeo, Yoshinogari, and Arita; and further mergers on March 20).