SAMURAI CASTLES: Matsumoto Castle - Time and Tide

[Music] a synthesis of wisdom and Technology the samurai Castle a castle Secrets reveal a deeper sight to Japan hi I'm Chris Glen for over 30 years now I've lived in Japan studying Samurai history and culture armor weapons Warfare and of course the symbolic and iconic Samurai castles throughout history and across Japan there were some 40 to 50,000 castles built today only 12 Castle capes remain in original condition this is one of them Matsumoto Castle this enormous gleaming keep which has stood for centuries casts a different countenance upon the waters of the moat black and water are synonymous with Matsumoto Castle which Incorporated the latest engineering and Architectural technology of the time in this episode we look at the Technologies and secrets of the over 400y old Matsumoto Castle [Applause] Matsumoto lies in central Nagano prefecture with the castle at its core this is probably one of the most photogenic castles of all with its imposing black edifice it looks Invincible doesn't it yet elegant and full of poise and the stunning reflection in the wide mod here means that you really can't stop at one or two photographs I've taken about what probably 2 3,000 already and probably going to take a few hundred more [Music] today the five adjoining structures stand proud no matter the angle the castle we see today dates back to when toyotomi hidoshi held power over most of Japan toyot tomi's vassel and Lord of Matsumoto Ishikawa kazumasa began Construction in 1590 and his son yasunaga completed it a newly appointed Lord later added extensions during the toaga [Music] shogunate okay let's start at the taomon or the drum Tower gate on the Eastern side of the castle which holds various devices to prevent enemy infiltration [Music] the original taomon was demolished in 1868 at the dawn of Japan's modernization but it was rebuilt in [Music] 1999 it claims a design feature that's rarely seen in other surviving [Music] castles the main gates to most castles are actually two sets of gates perpendicular to each other even though both gates here face the same direction they still serve as an effective defense against Invasion let's look [Music] inside see the Triangular and rectangular openings in the walls these are loopholes the Triangular ones are set lower because the samurai would kneel on one knee to aim and shoot their matchlock guns the rectangular ones are set slightly higher for Archers to use the length of the bow would actually dictate the height of those openings potential aggressors could be attacked from within the [Music] tyon set above the gate is a turret thus the Defenders could assail attackers from the turret above and the gate below even so some attackers may get through unscathed and passing through one gate there'd be perturbed to find the other offset gate now these two gates and the courtyard in between form a very effective defense called a masata or death box [Music] gate if you manage to make it through the first gate you'll be trapped in this box-like section here and attacked from all directions and killed and have a look at this exceptionally large rocks like this called kagami ishi or miror are often positioned in and around the gates and entranceways of castles to reflect the power and financial strength of its Master this kagami isi is 3.6 M high and weighs an estimated 22.5 tons it's rare in the fact that it's standing vertically a legend surrounds this kagami [Music] isi [Music] having taken over the Castle's construction from his father Lord Ishikawa yasunaga is said to have ridden the kagami isi to encourage the laborers as they were haing the boulder into position the complaints of one of the laborers caught his ear so yasunaga loed his head off in front of everyone since then the Bold has been named gimber isi after yaga's title at the time [Music] kagami isi exude Authority and can be found at most castles the largest stands at Osaka Castle positioned in the early 1600s the kagami isi stands 5.5 m tall 11.7 M wide and is thought to weigh 108 tons a true Testament to the tagawa CL clam's [Music] power once through the taomon the tenu comes into [Music] view the tenu or Tower keep looks to be close but it's protected by this broad moat which impedes enemy access Moes surround the tenu and the inner [Music] Bailey at 60 M the inner moat is widest right in front of the [Music] Teno to enter the inner Bailey attackers would have to pass through the kuromon or black gate similar to the taomon it's designed to allow Defenders to attack the advancing enemy on two levels from the turret gate at the back and the fence in the [Music] front within the honmaru or the innermost Bailey the tinu the tower keep is an absolutely amazing structure have a look at this oh there you can see the main tower stands in the middle and the structures either side make it look like the spreading wings of a bird in flight five structures comprise the tenu complex of the original tenu Still Standing today matsumoto's main tower building at 25 M tall is second in height to that of Himi Castle on the right you'll see a subke connected by a narrow turret or watari yagura on the left are the tagura with its red railings and the Tatsumi skaga [Music] turrets this complex cluster of connecting turrets and Towers is unique to Matsumoto castle and each structure's purpose differed according to when it was built the tenu entrance is in the connecting turret between the main tower and the subke keep on the left on entering the keep besides the sturdy Timber doors and these very high stairs which would obviously slow the attackers down most people would instinctively turn to the left and head towards the main keep completely forgetting about the subke to the right so as they turn they turn their backs to the subke keep in which case the defenders in here would attack them from behind but here's something you've really got to check out and that is the subke have a look at this the Timbers inside and the architecture is of an older style the subke was most probably the original keep and then as the castle developed over the years it slowly grew and developed into a bigger more expansive Castle don't miss it when you come and have a visit to this [Music] Castle all the pillars in the main tenue are squared pillars whereas the subu employs both squared and rounded pillars this shows how architectural techniques Advanced around the time of Matsumoto Castle's construction and how more time and effort were put into developing these structures let's press [Music] on the exterior walls along the first floor aligned with loopholes and the corridor in front of them is called a warrior run because that's what the samurai would be doing in times of attack at the time the castle was built the main Siege weapons used by Samurai were matchlock guns and arrows so the keep complex is fortified for battle and has as many as 115 [Music] loopholes the second floor would have been used to house the samurai in case of a Siege [Music] the third floor is hidden from the outside by Roofing so it was intended as windowless storage the fourth floor has a different prestigious Ambiance so it's thought that the dial Lord would have sat here during battle the fifth floor is thought to have been used for strategy meetings now before we go up to the sixth floor there's something I want you to have a look at and it's this particular pillar here and you note that it's got a couple of notches in the side here The Story Goes that in the early 1900s the tower began to lean to one side so what they did was they pulled all the walls apart leaving just the wooden frame then attached some ropes to the pillars and then pulled it to straighten the entire Tower but is that story true I tend to think it's not the reason being is that these notches are found only on this particular pillar and none of the others history is full of riddles such as this and most times it's nearly impossible to uncover the truth when you visit castles look out for things like this and let your imagination run wild [Music] on the sixth and top floor there's a narrow Corridor likee passage running around the perimeter what do you think it [Music] is apparently a balcony was originally planned for the very top floor however Winters here are very harsh due to the wind winds the rain and the snow and such balconies were difficult and costly to maintain and so instead during construction they enclosed this section this Corridor here is a remnant of the original plan and of course the changes made it much more effective than an open plan style in most castles the keep gets narrower the higher it goes so the top floor would be the smallest [Music] in Matsumoto the planned Veranda around the top floor was enclosed so the fifth and sixth floors are almost the same size that gives the maintain you a sturdy solid [Music] look now let's go back down and check out the adjoining structure in here the architecture is different yet again this open space gives the skim yagura a different atmosphere from the main cape and the red railing around the outside here provides a luxurious [Music] Ambience this was for entertainment purposes and they used to say that when they had a moon viewing party here you could actually see the moon three times Once In The Sky Sky once reflected in the moat and once reflected in your saki cup mind you if you have enough saki you could probably see quite a few moons maybe the skimi yagura and the Tatsumi kagura turrets were built after Tokugawa easu gained total control of Japan and an era of Peace [Music] prevailed the skim yagura was intended for pot potential visits from the Shogun matoto Castle's tenu and its extensions are rare in that they were completed during times of both War and [Music] Peace the fact that this four centuries old castle still stands is Testament to the leading technology of the times tenu are normally built on earn foundations reinforced with stone walls to Bear the [Music] weight the weight of matsumoto's main tower is estimated to be 1,000 tons at a glance it seems that the stone walls are bearing the weight but the foundation hides a structural contrivance not seen in other castles this lump of Timber was part of a supporting column excavated from matumoto Castle's Foundation during the restoration work conducted between 1950 and [Music] 1955 researchers found that 16 columns each with a length of 5 m and a diameter of 40 cm are buried in the foundation to support the keep why was such reinforcement necessary the answer lies in the local geography that's good Matsumoto is famous for its sober and this is thanks to its location here in Nagano prefecture sober is made from Bak weed flour and water and one of the reasons Matsumoto is famous for its sober is the quality of the water [Music] maimoto is known for having pristine groundwater and the city today maintains 20 Wells where residents collect the water for drinking and use it in their homes the city is surrounded by mountains including the northern Alps where which stand as tall as 3,000 [Music] M rain and melted snow from the mountains infiltrate the ground and collect beneath the Matsumoto Basin this creates a huge water table under the city therefore Matsumoto Casto needed columnus support in its space to stand on the soft [Music] ground so why did they decide to build in a place like this during the civil unrest that lasted for around 100 years from the late 15th century the majority of strongholds were built on mountains and ridges to take full advantage of the topography for defense but the locations were inconvenient for for hosting guests or daily [Music] life Matsumoto castle built on a flat plane could be easily attacked in tumultuous times but it was conveniently located for politics during times of peace to increase its fences Moes were dug and filled with groundwater to forall attacks but it was not just a simple matter of digging ditches around the castle the land on which the castle was built is higher towards the Northeast and slopes down towards the Southwest a difference in altitude of 7 m this posed a problem for maintaining the water levels in the [Music] Moes the solution was sloes some of which can still be seen [Music] today embankments were built in the moat with a mechanism that utiliz thin pipes to adjust the water [Music] levels the groundwater that welled up would be damned by the embankment and excess water would run off through the [Music] pipes this device was used in all three Moes surrounding the castle but despite the unsuitable topography there's another major reason why Matsumoto Castle is located here mat motto was the Confluence of major highways from all directions the East the West the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan you could call it Japan's belly [Music] button the tower keep at Matsumoto Castle was Built tool to exud presence and to awe and intimidate those passing by the Ten's presence deres not just from its size but being black makes it look even more imposing but why black not white like so many other Castle [Music] keepes the keep is covered with black laacer clapboard [Music] the upper parts of the walls are plastered white so why did they use this combination of styles if you look closely you'll notice that the roofs protect the white sections from the [Music] rain the plaster used at the time was fire resistant but prone to damage by rain therefore the walls had to be removed and replastered every 20 to 30 years due to the unfavorable weather conditions in the area charcoal coated clapboards were attached to sections that would be exposed to rain the clapboards werein lacquered for water resistance the walls would be relaced regularly and the boards would only have to be replaced every 50 [Music] years lacer was indeed expensive but the lacquered clapboard was cost effective and required less effort even today the boards are relaced every [Music] year that's why the tower keep still retains the same Brilliance it had over 400 years ago but there's another reason for it being black since ancient times lacer was considered sacred and it was used on special [Music] items at jishi in Kyoto more commonly known as gin Kakui the walls were once slacked black causing them to look silver when light reflected off them hence the nickname silver Pavilion or [Music] gaku this statue of Ashura a Buddhist demigod was made in the early 8th Century by applying and drying layers of lacos soed hemp over a surface the first person to use this sacred lacquer in a Castle's tenu is thought to be OD noaga a powerful Dao who strove to unify Japan during the period of civil [Music] unrest noaga had azuchi Castle's tenu lacered black to lended a magnificent and dignified presence and moreover display his [Music] strength the next Samurai Lord to pick up the mantle of unifying Japan toyotomi hioshi is also said to have used black lacer on his Teno at Osaka [Music] Castle Matsumoto Castle in its present form was built when the warlord Toyota Tom hidoshi controlled most of Japan the Castle's Lord was one of hoshi's allies and so it's thought the Castle's keep was like at black to show hideyoshi's authority to other Warlords or because the lacer wooden paneling suited the Lord's tastes the role of this dignified cluster of black keeps and turrets shifted over time during the peaceful toag period Matsumoto Castle is one of the few castles to have survived the times there are always fascinating reasons as to why castles are located where they are and built the way they were the techniques used were dictated by the local conditions and terrain remember the tower keep is not the castle a castle is a Fortified Area not a structure so when you do visit make sure to take a good look around the entire grounds you'll be amazed at the 400y old technology and Ingenuity that went into building these original and impressive Samurai [Music] castles

Channel: NHK WORLD-JAPAN

Views: 451,510

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Id: bG7oeflLWbY

Length: 28min 6sec (1686 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 09 2024