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Japan - Castles

There are many ancient castles in Japana refecting the country's history.

Osaka Castle for instance is deep-rooted in the minds of citizens of Osaka as the symbol of Osaka, as is the "Taiko-han" (founder of Osaka Castle, Hideyoshi Toyotomi).

Osaka castle has now been renovated as a History Museum.

Castles began to become closely associated with the commerce and government of the area. They began to be built on a low plateaus and the hirayama-jo (plain-mountain) type became the standard type of castle being built in the feudal era. for mountain top fortifications.

It is at this time that large, strong, stone walls were developed, moats were dug, earthworks added, and new defence and attack features introduced. There was more concentration on the nawabari , of the castle and important castle features such as ishiotoshi, sama and spikes were introduced.

The warlord became the master of his own area, being able to establish and administer his own taxation rates, laws, and even systems of weight and measure= Castles were built in the centre of the lords domain, and its function was no longer solely a defensive one. The castle now also contained the residence of the warlord and his personal retainers.

The moat surrounding Osaka Castle

Ninomaru Palace at Nijo Castle

People flocked to live in the area surrounding the castle due to the availability of work involved in the building of the castle, and also due to the status surrounding the castle. Towns called jokamachi 'castletowns' started to appear. The construction of castles led to the development of many of the towns which have become the major cities of Japan today. The building of Edo-jo led to the development of Tokyo , the building of Himeji-jo led to the development of the city Himeji and so on.

The three main warlords which influenced castle building techniques and styles were Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Ieyasu Tokugawa. It was Hideyoshi who constructed Osaka castle in 1582, in the same year as Azuchi-jo was destroyed. Osaka-jo was one of the most magnificent castles ever constructed. It covered 730,000 square kilometres, and had 5 towers the tallest being 9 stories high. It reputedly required three years of labour by up to 100,000 men.

Hamamatsu Castle

Matsumoto Castle

Nijo Castle Grounds

HImeji Castle