Soon after the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the castle ended its history as a residence of the ruling nobility. The O-shita-no-yashiki Residence was then used as the government center of Fukuoka Prefecture, a new regional administrative unit which adopted the name of the castle. In Meiji 9 (1876) the government centre was moved to the southeastern area of what was once the outer castle of Fukuoka Castle, and the castle was then used as a military complex up until 1945, when the Pacific War ended, and the site began to be used by U.S. American occupation forces.