Samurai Castles: Evolution and Overview

japan is home to some of the most iconic imagery on earth today things instantly recognizable as landmarks from the land of the rising sun from stunning mountains cherry blossoms in bloom tory gates shinto shrines buddhist temples and city skylines such as that of tokyo or osaka there are plenty of things that if you were to show a picture to really anyone they would immediately recognize it as japan however there is one site that in my opinion tops all of the above structures so uniquely japanese and rooted in history that their very existence makes them stand out as perhaps the most iconic symbol of japan and its feudal past i am obviously referring to the castles of the samurai yet like many aspects of japan and its history and culture samurai castles have an incredibly fascinating yet surprisingly misunderstood evolution so today what we are going to do is dive back into time to see the rise fall and well rise again of japan's castles we are going to first start things off in the 7th century although fortifications in japan started appearing many centuries prior it is at this point we not only begin to see shifting events in the japanese military that would later lead to the rise of the bushi eventually coming to be known as the samurai but also where we can start tracing the origins of proper japanese strongholds for a long time forts in japan were essentially walled mansion-like structures these were often homes to landlords and for the most part were situated near the fields at a time of war these would also be surrounded by wooden palisades dirt walls and in a lot of cases moats there is even evidence to suggest that bundles of rice were used at one point as methods of protection from enemy arrows evidence of more significant early defensive structures known as kogoishi can actually be found in kyushu where it appears fortifications were somewhat ahead of their time when compared to the rest of japan kokuishi are seen to be inspired often by korean forts that were typical for the time employing much more earth and stonework to improve their strength and resilience however a greater example of the first stone fortifications in japan appear more on the northwestern coast of kyushu because of growing tension and turmoil between japan and korea following the fall of the japanese ally pekja in the late 600s there became an increasing fear that mainland forces may eventually try to invade the japanese islands this prompted japan to construct a series of defenses along the coast of kyushu to prevent such an occurrence these fortifications were largely built of stone and would come to be manned by the newly commissioned army of japanese conscripts japan's early attempt at a nationwide military prior to the samurai luckily an attack never came at least not yet the mongol invasions of course happened way later thus the defensive line was never really needed it still remains however as evidence of an early shift towards using stonework in defensive structures even though for many more years the majority of japan would continue using wood to build their forts in fact the reason for this is because wooden fords could be so easily erected and dismantled fords were of course used mainly during times of war for defensive protection often when they were no longer needed they would actually be torn down this philosophy began to change however as we move into the aeon period and the age of the samurai came into being throughout the heian period we start to see more internal conflicts as various rebellions erupted across the country from time to time this inevitably caused fords to become more permanent defensive installations following the ginpay war which caused the samurai to take control of the country and initially rule it through what would be remembered as the kamakura shogunate samurai military land governors were assigned territory across the country although many of these samurai land governors did not possess traditional forts but rather lived in the same old walled manners these early samurai mansions are often referred to as yakata and even though the yakata would come to dominate the next several hundred years we can also start to see the early rise of another form of fortification the yamajiro mountain castles these structures were of course built atop mountains a naturally defensive terrain upon which a central keep called a tinchu sat surrounded by wooden stockades that linked together towers and gates yet it is important to note that these new castles were not meant to be a residence for the lord as in most cases they were simply used for defensive means as the lords themselves often lived in a yakata at the foot of the mountain while the yamajiro slowly came into existence during the kamakura and later muramachi period it would still be some time before its design really took off in the meantime japan would be threatened by the mongol invasions of 1274 and 1281 and it is here once again that we see japanese forces utilize stonework for defensive measures as a stone wall would be constructed around hakata bay near the city of dezaifu the administrative center of kyushu but as we all know the best defense against the mongols was actually just the weather roughly half a century later and we move into an odd period marked by conflicts initially between the emperor and the shogunate but eventually a longer lasting clash that arose between two rival competing imperial courts this time is remembered as the nanbakucho period where various samurai clans began throwing their support behind the northern or southern court lasting a little over 50 years this turbulent age would come to see a greater rise in the yamagiro as internal warfare became more relevant yet the true rise of the samurai castle was still yet to come by 1467 we finally see the outbreak of the extremely important oning war ravaging kyoto and causing the eventual beginning of the single kuchi dai japan's warring states period as the authority of the ashikaga shogunate crumbled to pieces many of the former samurai land governors became more and more autonomous which in turn caused a rise in ambition as many of these lords transitioned into the independent damio who fought to expand their own territory and regional influence it is here we finally see the construction of the yamajiro boom as hundreds of lords across the country sought to increase measures to defend their land and command their authority all across the country yamashiros began popping up as it is estimated that around 5 000 of them would be built throughout the period in addition because of this turbulent and chaotic age of war the yamagiro became more sophisticated now often incorporating more stone bulwarks extensive lengths of wooden palisades additional towers and both dry or wet moats this one to create a fortification that was not only defensively advantageous but also confusing for attackers to attempt to make their way through what could potentially be a winding array of earthen walls wooden palisades gates and towers to further bolster a defensive position daimyo also began to incorporate satellite castles known as shijo extra forts that were erected on surrounding hills creating a strong defensive network linking together with each other and the lord's main yamajiro for roughly two-thirds of the sengokujidai the yamajiro was the main form of samurai castle yet that was set to change following the rise of oda nobunaga the first of japan's three great unifiers seeking to create a castle that not only functioned for defensive purposes but was also meant to be an administrative power base and beacon of culture that worked to impress and intimidate nobunaga constructed azuchi japan's first modern castle situated in a central position between east and west and also strategically near the capital kyoto azuchi was a work of ingenuity being built atop a hill rather than a mountain it incorporated not wood but strong stone walls its colorful and flamboyant tinchu was seven stories tall four stories taller than what was the norm at the time and was surrounded by various smaller towers interestingly enough it is even said that nobunaga decided that his personal quarters would be inside the tenshu and not in an adjacent manor house purposely situated near where three highways merged coming from the east and allowing a growing settlement to prosper surrounding it azuchi became a logistical and administrative masterwork although the lifespan of azuchi would be cut short being burnt down by the trader akichi mitsuhide just three years after its completion azuchi's legacy would live on as it marked a turning point in samurai castle construction from that point on most newly constructed castles began to emulate the impressive administrative and defensive design azuchi displayed using greater amounts of stonework and larger overall structures combined with easy access to nearby roads and flourishing castle towns this really was the birth of the iconic samurai castle we all know which sort of factors into an interesting misconception that samurai castles always looked like this when in reality its design was born late during the warring states period and as these newer castle styles began to increase we can also begin to see new forms of samurai castles arising across the country soon alongside the yamagiro we also begin seeing hirayamashiro hill castles hirajiro flatland castles and ukishiro mizujiro's floating or water castles known for their impressive moats each type of castle possessed a unique challenge for an attacking force yet what began to make things more complicated was innovations in wall arrangement primarily there were four types of castle layouts that arose throughout the period these are known as nawabadi and with castles such as azuchi which became more elaborate we can also begin to see more structures incorporated into them things such as towers enclosures baileys storehouses and living quarters for the lords retainers and the rest of the garrison so with that said let's now take a look at the four styles of castle layouts the first we have is called doshinin it is almost a pyramid of layers stacked atop one another with the tenshu in the center at the top an example of a toshinin is osaka castle next is hashi gokaku a style that relies heavily on the elevation of a hill or mountain to create an almost terrace or step effect that leads up to the top layer containing the tenshu an example of a hashigokaku is or at least was inuyama castle after that we have the renkaku style marked by additional layers of varying heights jutting out from both sides with the tenshu in the center once again an example of a renkaku is nagoya castle the last layout style is simply known as complex similar to the renkaku style the complex incorporates various layers jutting out from the center however with an increased variety and sheer amount of random layers this style was very hard to attack an example of a complex castle is himeji additionally with the wall construction growing and becoming more and more elaborate due to increased stone usage castles became far better defensive killing machines not only were towers utilized to provide increased defensive measures but there was also the addition of various shooting holes known as sama which lined the entirety of the walls each sama was a different shape designed for a different purpose rectangles were used for archers while triangular and circular holes were used for firearms on top of that unique ornamentation also made an appearance adorning different parts of the castle these decorative fittings often displayed the symbol of the clan or were made in the image of a spiritual creature to provide some form of protection to the castle as natural disasters happened often it was not uncommon for a castle to burn down due to lightning strikes or negligence even more so to combat japan's frequent earthquakes the stonework of the walls was always installed without mortar this was done so that the stone could easily sway better during earthquakes allowing the structure atop to move as well so with castles becoming so much larger defensible and sophisticated we should probably ask the question how did an attacking force try to take a castle well just like any castle built anywhere around the world the primary objective when storming a castle is to get over the walls if the outer walls were sloped enough and soldiers could make their way up by climbing or using ladders that was definitely one method although this also caused a higher casualty rate due to defenders having greater means of shooting down at the attackers there was also the occasional japanese siege tower however while in the west siege towers were used to get atop walls in japan largely due to the sloped nature of castle walls they were not always able to be used in this fashion thus instead they were more often used simply to provide elevation for archers and gunners to shoot down inside the castle battering rams were also used quite frequently but using a battering ram also put those operating it at a greater risk of attacks from trapdoors where defenders would fling down stones boiling water or even hot sand but if the terrain was suitable which it often wasn't and there were skilled artisans on hand samurai armies also employed the use of catapults to throw boulders or explosives at the enemy eventually as we move into the later years of the sengokujidai we start to see more modern weaponry used against castles things such as land mines and later cannons were seen as highly effective not only at breaking the enemy defenses but also enemy morale but even with that all said it goes without saying that storming a castle was a deadly affair and often seen as a last resort this caused more innovative ideas of taking castles to flourish throughout the period one documented effective method of seizing castles was through the usage of shinobi agents of espionage who were able to conduct night raids into enemy castles and cause garrisons to fall through surprise and confusion a prime example of shinobi being used to take a castle was in 1562 during the siege of kaminogo however there is no better example of conducting sieges than by viewing the many methods used by toyotomi hideyoshi the second of japan's three great unifiers from using diplomacy to sway castle lords over to his side brutality to starve out defending garrisons and even diverting rivers to flood entire surrounding areas cutting castles off completely hideyoshi became a master at taking castles with very little casualties after hideyoshi took over he would construct an array of powerful citadels that served to exert his authority these were at osaka fushimi and jurakudai in kyoto interestingly enough it is important to note the introduction of the black tenshu first seen at osaka further castles idayoshi would commission across the country would also have a black tinshu to display their loyalty to him this is actually opposed to castles built by tokugawa ieyasu the third of japan's three great unifiers whose own castles and castles of lords loyal to him colored their tinchu white another interesting thing hideyoshi did as he came into power was decree that only lords who had pledged their loyalty to him would be allowed to keep their castles this not only caused many families to take his side lest they lose their land but also caused the dismantling of many other castles later during hideyoshi's failed invasion of korea known as the imjin war the japanese would construct various castles across the korean peninsula although today nothing really remains of these castles besides foundations and ruins we know for a fact that most fortifications were constructed simply to secure supply lines while actual larger governing fortresses were said to have been built near the coast more large changes to castles in japan were to come after the battle of sekigahara in the year 1600 when yayasu took control and finally unified the land eventually creating the tokugawa shogunate initially ieyasu established a number of major strongholds across the entire country as a method to maintain authority similar to what hideyoshi had done although this time ieyasu used the construction of these new castles as an excuse to tax and further weaken clans that had previously been disloyal to him some of these new impressive castles he constructed were hikone nagoya ero nijo and himeji which previously had actually been known as himayama following the end of the siege of osaka in 1615 the conflict that brought the sengoku period to a close we can see that castle building virtually stopped just as the wars did in addition the shogunate issued a new law known as ikoku ichiju one castle per province this act forced damio all across japan to demolish all of their castles except for their primary residence by the end of this process it is estimated that roughly 400 castles were torn down leaving only 170 still standing being that the edo period was a time of peace all further castle related projects such as expansions or repairs had to be approved by the shogunate this actually allowed for the interesting occurrence of tin shoes burning down due to lightning or accidents and not getting approval from the shogunate to rebuild them thus the number of remaining castles continued to dwindle what further caused the number to decline was after the fall of the tokugawa shogunate in 1868 followed by the meiji restoration which brought the emperor back into power and the dismantling of the samurai with castles being somewhat viewed now as an unsightly reminder of japan's futile past an order would be eventually given for more of them to be torn down in time only leaving 19 tenchu still standing yet what is cool to note is that due to the fact that the stone foundations to many of these castles were so hard to remove many of them still remain today thus even though the castle no longer exists all across the country you can still see where many of these castles once stood later during the second world war seven more castles would unfortunately be destroyed by allied bombing however following the war as a new rise in the interest and popularity of feudal japan began to spread many of the tin shoes destroyed would be rebuilt and others would even come to be recognized as unesco world heritage sites thus samurai castles started to make a huge comeback long after they were actually used throughout the remainder of the 20th century the castles of the samurai became a staple image of japan important structures that linked the modern country back to its unique and fascinating feudal past today there are around 100 japanese castle sites that you can still visit although only a handful are still originals and others are just preserved remains many have actually been authentically rebuilt so that we can experience them in all of their grandeur in the future i plan on coming back to talk more about samurai castles and dive deeper into specifics because i know there is a lot more extra information i decided not to get into here but now though what i want to hear is what is your favorite samurai castle which ones have you visited or would like to see at some point let me know in the comments below yet as always thank you so much for watching and don't forget to like subscribe and ring that notification bell if you enjoyed this video and found it to be most informative

Channel: The Shogunate

Views: 303,379

Rating: 4.9132509 out of 5

Keywords: Samurai, Castle, History, Military, Defence, Warrior, Japan, Daimyo, Shogun, Honor, Katana, Bushido, Education, tour, Lord, Feudal, Medieval, Extra

Id: LspnzZdf3A8

Length: 21min 9sec (1269 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 14 2020