Photo/Illutration The restored Goromon gate at the Tsurumaru Castle ruins in Kagoshima is opened to public viewing on April 11. (Atsushi Misawa)

KAGOSHIMA--The massive Goromon gate at the ruins of feudal-era Tsurumaru Castle here is now fully restored, nearly 150 years after the building was destroyed by fire.

The castle dates to the early 1600s, just before the start of the Edo Period (1603-1867).

A ceremony to mark completion of the main wooden entrance way to the castle was held April 11.

The castle, which was the residence of the Shimazu family, was gutted by fire in 1873, a few years into the Meiji Era (1868-1912).

While the new coronavirus pandemic has cast a shadow over the tourism industry in Kagoshima Prefecture, officials here are keeping their fingers crossed that the renovated gate will serve as a new symbol for the prefectural capital.

The original Goromon, measuring 20 meters by 20 meters, was located in front of the castle's residential complex, which currently houses the Kagoshima Prefectural Center for Historical Material, Reimeikan. The gate had been a structure symbolizing Tsurumaru Castle that did not have a keep. 

The 1873 fire destroyed the gate and the residence.

An association was founded by the prefectural government and a private organization to rebuild the gate, and restoration work started in September 2018.

Officials had to rely on two existing photos of the gate and other materials as references because no design diagram of the structure survived.

The project cost 1.09 billion yen ($10.1 million), with more than half of the expenses, or 620 million yen, covered by donations from the private sector.

"Our local tourism industry has been dealt a severe blow due to the coronavirus outbreak," said Fumio Tamagawa, vice chairman of the association. "It is our hope that restoring the Goromon will help turn around this difficult situation."

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