Types of Japanese Castles

Location

Japanese castles are generally classified by their location. The reason for this, is that castles built on the peak of a mountain or on a hilltop or on flatland or by the sea, more often than not belong to specific time periods, had slightly different roles & utilized different defensive strategies. So, we can see that it makes sense to group castles thus. Let's take a closer look.

Mountain castle

Mountain Castles (山城 - Yama Jiro) Most of Japan's earliest & significant strongholds were built atop remote mountain tops. This made them ideal in times of strife as they were extremely difficult to assault. Many of these sprawling mountain-top fortresses were established from about the 600's & abandoned by the 1600's when modern castle building techniques made them obsolete. There were some exceptions, such as Bitchū Matsuyama & Oka castles which were in use until the end of Japan's feudal age.

Hilltop castle

Hilltop Castles (平山城 - Hirayama Jō) From the 1550's there came a need for castles to be more accessible as they were being used more as centers of administration & not purely for defense. This transition prompted castle engineers to devise new methods to thwart attackers. The result being castles became larger, more accessible & less reliant on natural defenses. Himeji & Kumamoto castles being two fine examples.

Flatland castle

Flatland Castles (平城 - Hira Jiro) Castles built on plains were built with greater flexibility as they relied less on their surroundings. Of course, castle designers incorporated features such as waterways & swamps where possible but also included twists & turns in the castle layout to confuse attackers & eliminated blind spots to aid those defending.Ōsaka & Saga castles both built on plains & utilize extremely wide moats.

Layout

There is yet another way to categorise Japanese castles. This way relates specifically to the arrangment of their defensive enclosures, which are usually arranged in relation to a central enclosure called the Honmaru. To enter the Honmaru (1), you would have to pass through the Ninomaru (2) & possibly the Sannomaru (3).

	Rinkakushiki - 輪郭式Nijō & Ōsaka castles		Renkakushiki - 連郭式Shimabara & Bitchū Matsuyama castles
	Teikakushiki - 梯郭式Funai & Okayama castle		Kakakushiki - 渦郭式Himeji & Edo castles

Website by: Daniel O'Grady

Daniel is an Australian who has been living & working in Japan since 2001. Whenever he can he likes to hop on a train to discover Japanese castles for himself. Being also interested in photography & computers has led to the (inevitable) creation of this site.

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