At the nearby Manabe Castle ruins, the graves of the Watanabe family of the Hakata Domain are well preserved, but here there's only a stone monument. Still, I'm grateful they've kept the land in a residential area and put up a monument to preserve it. Can't really read the inscription, though.

And there was only a stone monument, so the story goes. There were no information boards or remains.

This is the site of the domain office of the Watanabe family's Izumi Hakata Domain, worth 13,000 koku. Watanabe Moritsuna, known as "Spear Hanzo," was made tsukegarō (attached senior retainer) to Ieyasu's ninth son Yoshinao by Ieyasu's order; thereafter the main Watanabe line served as karō (senior retainers) of the Owari Tokugawa family and held 14,000 koku at Terabe in Mikawa. Moritsuna's grandson Yoshitsuna founded a branch family in Musashi-Nomoto, where the Watanabe family had holdings, and became a hatamoto; but for his service as sobayōnin (chamberlain) to the 4th shogun Ietsuna, he was granted additional lands in Izumi and Kawachi provinces, joined the ranks of the daimyo, and established the Musashi-Nomoto Domain. In Genroku 11 (1698), under Mototsuna, the 3rd lord of Nomoto, the Musashi holdings were exchanged for lands in Ōmi. Taking the opportunity of having all holdings consolidated in the Kinai region, the jin'ya (domain headquarters) was moved to Ōbadera (Ōbadera, Minami-ku, Sakai), becoming the Ōbadera Domain. However, because Mototsuna was also serving as Osaka jōban, most of the jin'ya's functions were located at the Osaka jōban residence. Later, when his term as Osaka jōban ended and he left the residence, the Ōbadera jin'ya was too cramped, so in Kyōhō 12 (1727) the jin'ya was moved to Hakata, becoming the Hakata Domain. (The site was reportedly chosen because it was along a highway, on high ground with a view all the way to Osaka Bay, and surrounded by reservoirs.) When they first moved, there was reportedly no enclosure around the jin'ya grounds, and no boundary between the samurai quarter and the village. Simply put, the main buildings such as the lord's residence were at the very back, and retainers' residences lined the slope going down toward the highway. Then in Meiwa 7 (1770), major renovations were carried out: the jin'ya grounds were expanded and enclosed with earthen walls, and the main buildings were moved closer to the highway. (Several excavations were carried out in connection with the construction of the Ikegami-Shimomiya Line on the north side, and nothing that could really be called a moat was found; if there was one, it was reportedly no more than an irrigation channel. The earthen ramparts were also reportedly only 2–3m, not very tall. Apart from the main gate, the Sō-gomon (the so-called ōte), being built in a staggered kuichigai layout, it reportedly wasn't very heavily fortified.) From around where the stone monument (Hakata Eishi Monument) now stands toward the hillside was the lord's residence, which was further divided north and south: separated by the alley leading toward the hillside from here, the north side (Osaka side) was the Omote Goten and the south side (Wakayama side) was the Higashi Goten. (The south end of the lord's residence was the Ōte road, the north end was around where you cross the Ikegami-Shimomiya Line to the north, and the east end was below the alley with the monument to the former Hakata Domain samurai residences.) The Hakata Eishi Monument was erected in Showa 12 by the former lord's family and former retainers. The inscription was composed by Yasutsuna, son of the last lord, Akitsuna. If you head toward the hillside from the Hakata Eishi Monument and turn right where the road ends, you'll find the monument to the former Hakata Domain samurai residences at the intersection with the Ōte road. About 30 years ago there were still houses with rugged earthen walls typical of samurai residences, but now they keep being replaced by new houses, and nothing remains to recall the old days. The only signs that this was a jin'ya site are the stone monuments and an old place name the locals call "Yashiki." Around the Youth Outdoor Activity Center on the south side, something like an earthen rampart, which probably once had an earthen wall on top, still remains. Also, the back gate of the former Hakata jin'ya (the gate that stood on the Marukasayama Kofun side) has been relocated and survives at the Odani Castle Local History Museum in Toyoda, Minami-ku, Sakai. (Reference: Osaka Ohtani University, Historical and Cultural Studies No. 19, "Osaka Jin'ya Summit - The Appeal and Historical Value of Jin'ya -", March 2019)

You're supposed to be able to open the fence gate and go in... but the latch had slipped inside and I couldn't pull it out.

There was also a stone pillar along the road heading south from here