The site is at the tip of long ridge continued southward from Mount Unzen, at the south coast of the Shimabara Peninsula.

The main body of Hinoe Castle extended over an area 400 by 200 meters, separated from connecting ridge by valley.

[2] A castle was built on this site by Fujiwara Tsunezumi, who ruled parts of the Shimabara Peninsula during the early Kamakura period.

The Arima earned enormous profit from marine transportation, and in 1550 the Portuguese began to trade at Kuchinotsu port next to Hinoe Castle.

The 13th head of the clan, Arima Harunobu, converted to Christianity and expanded Hinoe Castle to include a seminary, destroying Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines to use as building materials.

During these excavations, a straight staircase similar to one found in Azuchi Castle, stonework incorporating foreign technology, Chinese ceramics, and roof tiles with gold leaf were unearthed.