Karatsu Castle

[Project Summary]
Karatsu has been a gateway to the continent since ancient times. During the Edo period, the Karatsu Domain was an important base for the shogunate's governance of Kyushu, and was also a historical and cultural city where unique culture such as the Karatsu Kunchi festival and Karatsu ware pottery flourished.
Our company believes that what is expected of Karatsu Castle, the starting point of Karatsu tourism, is to utilize the charm of Karatsu's glorious history and culture and to play the role of a circulation device for walking around the town.
Through a comprehensive review of displays, facilities and operations, we aimed to redevelop the facility into a comprehensive guidance facility for Karatsu City's "town walking" tours, and a base for revitalizing the local area by bringing out the best in Karatsu Castle.
We assisted with the entire project from basic planning, design, and construction.

[Customer Issues]
Karatsu Castle had three issues before the renovation.
First, the client was in a desperate need to update their aging facilities, outdated displays, and outdated displays themes.
The second reason was that Karatsu City's attractive resources were not being fully utilized, and there was a need to collaborate with the collection and other tourist spots.
The third issue was safety and cultural heritage protection, and there was a need to address issues such as natural lighting, universal concept design, earthquakes, and theft.
By resolving these three issues, we aimed to create a tourist hub worthy of being called "a city of tourism and cultural exchange where authenticity shines, surrounded by nature, history, and culture."

[Solution]
In order to solve these problems, we aimed to create an "displays that lets you enjoy Karatsu," developing displays story centered on the history of the castle town and the successive castle lords, creating an attractive displays space that makes use of illustrations of Hizen products and Karatsu ware,
We actively utilized IT, including the introduction of AR to explain displays.
Next, with the aim of realizing a "comfortable displays," we created welcoming spaces, such as a museum shop, reviewed the flow of visitors within the building and took into consideration those with limited mobility, such as foreign tourists, and installed toilets, a stairlift, and a multipurpose room.
Furthermore, in order to realize a "safe displays," we enhanced the facility's functions as a tourist information center and other facilities to promote tourism in Karatsu, promoted mobility by providing information about tourist facilities around the facility, and implemented thorough risk management to prevent accidents and losses.
So, we have come up with three solutions.

<Our project members>
[Developer] Yumeki Kusumoto
[Sales/Project Management] Tatsuya Fujii and Yumeki Kusumoto
[Planning] Takeshi Shin and Kyohei Kishida
[design, layout] Masaaki Mitsunaga and Rie Morita
[Production and construction] Takeshi Suezaki, Goro Yamano, Nanae Hori
[maintenance management] Katsumi Yamada, Takatoshi Nakamura