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Japanese castles were fortresses composed primarily of wood and stone. They evolved from the wooden stockades of earlier centuries, and came into their most well-known form in the 16th century. Like European castles, the castles of Japan were built to guard important or strategic sites, such as ports, river crossings, or crossroads, and almost always incorporated the landscape into their defence. Though they were built to last, and used more stone in their construction than most Japanese buildings, castles were still constructed primarily of wood, and many were destroyed over the years. This was especially true during the Sengoku ('Warring States') period (1467-1603), when many of these castles were first built. However, many were rebuilt, either later in the Sengoku period, in the Edo period (1603-1867) which followed, or more recently, as national heritage sites or museums. Today, there are around fifty castles extant, or partially extant, in Japan; it is estimated that once there were five thousand. Some castles, such as the ones at Matsue and Kōchi, both built in 1611, remain extant in their original forms, not having suffered any damage from siege or other threats. Hiroshima Castle, on the opposite end of the spectrum, was destroyed in the atomic bombing, and was rebuilt in 1958 as a museum. Himeji Castle 姫路城
Himeji Castle is a flatland-mountain Japanese castle complex located in Himeji in Hyōgo Prefecture and comprising 83 wooden buildings. It was originally built in the 14th century, and then rebuilt in 1580 and is occasionally known as Hakurojō or Shirasagijō ("White Heron Castle") because of its amazing white exterior. It was registered as the first Japanese National Cultural Treasure by UNESCO World Heritage Site and a Japanese National Cultural Treasure in December, 1993. Along with Matsumoto Castle and Kumamoto Castle, it is one of Japan's "Three Famous Castles", and is the most visited castle in Japan.This castle was used as a ninja training school in James Bond's You Only Live Twice and also appeared in The Last Samurai, several Kurosawa movies, and in the TV miniseries, Shogun. Matsumoto Castle 松本城
Matsumoto Castle (also known as Fukashi Castle) is a flatland castle and one of Japan's most historic castles. Located in the city of Matsumoto, in Nagano Prefecture, it is within easy reach of Tokyo, making it popular with tourists from Japan and other countries. This castle is also called "Crow Castle" because of its black walls and spreading wings. It is an example of a flatland castle, not being built on a hilltop or amid rivers. The castle's origins go back to the Sengoku period. At that time, Shimadachi Sadanaga of the Ogasawara clan built a fort on this site in 1504, which was originally called Fukashi Castle. In 1550, it came under the rule of the Takeda clan and then Tokugawa Ieyasu. When Toyotomi Hideyoshi transferred Ieyasu to the Kantō region, he placed Ishikawa Norimasa in charge of Matsumoto. Norimasa and his son Yasunaga built the tower and other parts of the castle, including the three towers: the keep and the small tower in the northwest, both begun in 1590, and the Watari Tower; the residence; the drum gate; the black gate, the Tsukimi Yagura, the moat, the innermost bailey, the second bailey, the third bailey, and the sub-floors in the castle, much as they are today. They were also instrumental in laying out the castle town and its infrastructure. It is believed much of the castle was completed in 1593-4. During the Edo period, the Tokugawa shogunate established the Matsumoto Domain, of which the Matsudaira, Mizuno and others were the daimyo. In 1872, following the Meiji Restoration, the tower was sold at auction and was at risk of being dismantled. However, with the cooperation of Ichikawa Ryozo and other people of Matsumoto, it was spared. The Kuromon-Ninomon (second gate of the Black Gate) and sodebei (side wall) were reconstructed in 1990. The square drum gate was reconstructed in 1999. The tower of Matsumoto Castle is listed as a National Treasure of Japan. Kumamoto Castle 熊本城
Kumamoto Castle is located in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan that has been opened to the public for tours. A large, and in its day, an extremely well fortified Japanese castle. The donjon (castle central keep) is a concrete reconstruction built in 1960, but several ancillary wooden buildings remain of the original castle. The castle was besieged during the Satsuma Rebellion, and was sacked and burned after a 53-day siege. In nearby San-no-Maru Park is the Hosokawa Gyobu-tei, the former residence of Hosokawa clan, the Higo daimyo. This traditional wooden mansion has a fine Japanese garden located in its grounds. The signature curved stone walls known as musha-gaeshi, as well as wooden overhangs were designed to prevent foes from penetrating the castle. Rock falls were also used as deterrents. Osaka Castle 大坂城・大阪城 r Originally called Ozakajō, it is one of Japan's most famous castles, and played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century of the Azuchi-Momoyama period. Osaka Castle is situated on a plot of land roughly one kilometre square. It is built on two raised platforms of landfill supported by sheer walls of cut rock, using a technique called Burdock piling, each overlooking a moat. The central castle building is five stories on the outside and eight stories on the inside, and built atop a tall stone foundation to protect its occupants from sword-bearing attackers. In 1583, Toyotomi Hideyoshi commenced construction on the site of the Ikkō-ikki temple of Ishiyama Hongan-ji. The basic plan was modelled after Azuchi Castle, the headquarters of Oda Nobunaga. Toyotomi wanted to build a castle that mirrored Oda's, but surpassed it in every way: the plan featured a five-story main tower, with three extra stories underground, and gold leaf on the sides of the tower to impress visitors.Maruoka Castle 丸岡城
Maruoka Castle is located in Sakai, Japan and is the second oldest standing castle in Japan, after Inuyama Castle. It was built in 1576 by order of Shibata Katsutoyo and only the central tower (donjon) remains. The grounds are used by the locals for festivals such as hanami and traditional parades. The castle is also known as Kasumi ga Jō (Mist Castle) due to the legend that whenever an enemy approaches the castle, a thick mist appears and hides it. Hiroshima Castle 広島城
Hiroshima Castle (sometimes called Carp Castle 鯉城) is located in Hiroshima, Japan. It was originally constructed in the 1590s but was destroyed in the atomic bombing in 1945. It was rebuilt in 1958, as a replica of the original which now serves as a museum of Hiroshima's history prior to World War II. Fukuyama Castle 福山城
Fukuyama Castle (sometimes called Hisamatsu Castle 松城 ,or Iyō Castle 葦陽城) ,was originally built on a hill in Fukuyama plain and it was the capital of Bingo Fukuyama Han. The construction of the castle started in 1619 during the Genna era. There were doubled moat around the castle and an inlet lead into Seto Inland Sea. Most of the castle buildings were destroyed during World War II and and most of the Dry stone was removed. The main building was rebuilt in 1966. Kiyosu Castle 清洲城
Kiyosu Castle acted as a base of operations for Oda Nobunaga during the latter half of the Sengoku period of feudal Japan. It is located in the city of Kiyosu, Aichi Prefecture. Kiyosu Castle was built between 1394 and 1427, first belonging to Shiba Yoshishige, then head of the Shiba clan and the shugo (governor) of Owari Province. Upon completion of construction, Oda Toshisada was installed in the castle as the shugodai (vice-governor of the province. It is thought to have been intended as a defensive stronghold meant to protect Orizu Castle, the seat of Owari's provincial government until its destruction during battle in 1476. After the loss of Orizu Castle, the government shifted to Kiyosu, bringing prosperity to the city. Operating from Nagoya Castle, Oda Nobunaga captured Kiyosu Castle in 1555. After Nobunaga's death, his second son, Nobukatsu, came into control of the castle and began large scale renovations in 1586. In 1610, the capital of Owari was moved from Kiyosu to nearby Nagoya on the orders of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Once a thriving castle town of 60,000 people, much of the city disappeared in what is known as the "Moving of Kiyosu." Parts of Nagoya Castle were constructed with the use of building materials taken from Kiyosu Castle. Constructed using parts taken from the Kiyosu Castle tower, one of the names of the northwest turret of Nagoya Castle's Ofukemaru fortress is subsequently the "Kiyosu Turret." Use of Kiyosu Castle would continue until the Edo period of the 18th century. Tokugawa Yoshinobu, a descendant of Tokugawa Ieyasu, was the last owner of the castle. Nagoya Castle 名古屋城
Nagoya Castle is located in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture and was built by Imagawa Ujichika around 1525. Oda Nobuhide took it from Imagawa Ujitoyo in 1532, but later abandoned it. In 1610, Tokugawa Ieyasu ordered the various daimyo to help with the building of a new castle on the site. This new castle was to be the new capital of the existing Owari Province and many of the materials used were sourced from the smaller Kiyosu Castle, including Kiyosu castle's tower (tenshu), which was located in the existing provincial capital of Kiyosu. Nagoya castle's construction was completed in 1612. During the Edo period, Nagoya Castle was the centre of one of the most important castle towns—Nagoya-juku—in Japan and the most important stops along the Minoji that linked the Tōkaidō with the Nakasendō. Until the Meiji Era, the castle was the home of the Owari Tokugawa clan of the Tokugawa family. It was destroyed by fire in World War II, but the donjon (keep) has been rebuilt (finished in 1959). During World War II, the castle was used as the District army headquarters and as a POW camp. The castle was burnt down in a USAF air raid on May 14, 1945. Due to the destruction caused by the air raid, most of the castle's artifacts were destroyed. Matsue Castle 松江城
Matsue Castle is a feudal castle in Matsue in Shimane prefecture. Nicknamed the "black castle" or "plover castle", it is one of the few remaining medieval castles in Japan – at least of the few remaining in their original wooden form, and not a modern reconstruction in concrete. The construction of Matsue Castle began in 1607 and finished in 1611, under the local lord Horio Yoshiharu. In 1638, the fief and castle passed to the Matsudaira clan, a junior branch of the ruling Tokugawa clan. Most Japanese castles have been damaged or destroyed by war, earthquakes, or other causes. Since a large part of their construction was wooden, fire was a major hazard. Matsue castle was built after the last great war of feudal Japan, so it never saw a battle. Yet only some of the walls and the keep exist today. Okayama Castle 岡山城
Okayama Castle ( Okayama-jō) is a castle in the city of Okayama in Okayama Prefecture. It is popularly known as Crow Castle 鳥城 and was named that because unlike every other castle in the country (except Matsumoto's, which shares the nickname) it has been painted a striking black, with only a few protruding bits and the occasional lucky fish-gargoyle (金鯱 kinshachi) gilded. It was destroyed in World War II and rebuilt in 1966. Shimabara Castle 島原城
Shimabara Castle is a five-story white castle located in present day Nagasaki Prefecture. It is also known as Moritake Castle 森岳城 ,and Kōrai Castle 高来城. The taxes imposed on the local farmers to build the castle were so severe that they revolted in an event called the Shimabara Rebellion. Shimabara Castle was completed in 1624. This five-story white building stands in stark contrast to the black Kumamoto Castle in neighbouring Kumamoto Prefecture. |
