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Samurai Castles: History / Architecture / Visitors' Guides
Samurai Castles features hundreds of stunning color photographs and little-known details about the most important and well-preserved Samurai castles in Japan, including their history, design and military features.
Japan's ancient castles provide profound insights into the country's compelling military history. Discover the secrets of Japan's feudal past by exploring the most famous castles of the Samurai era. The enormous stone walls, multi-level towers, and sophisticated defense systems are not merely impressive fortresses, but spectacular works of Japanese architecture, constructed without the use of steel or modern equipment. These monumental structures fulfilled a need for protection without sacrificing aesthetic values. Understanding the cultural contexts of these Samurai castles helps create a better understanding of Japanese culture today.
In this fascinating Japanese castle book, you will discover the rich history and creators of famous castles such as Himeji, Osaka, and Nijo that you would otherwise need to travel to Japan to experience in person. Chronicling the story of each building conveys a greater understanding of how and why they were built, and identifies their unique features for historians, architecture aficionados, world travelers, and Japanophiles alike.
With over two hundred color images, numerous diagrams, maps, and detailed descriptions, Samurai Castles is the most comprehensive Japanese history book on this intriguing topic.
Japan's ancient castles provide profound insights into the country's compelling military history. Discover the secrets of Japan's feudal past by exploring the most famous castles of the Samurai era. The enormous stone walls, multi-level towers, and sophisticated defense systems are not merely impressive fortresses, but spectacular works of Japanese architecture, constructed without the use of steel or modern equipment. These monumental structures fulfilled a need for protection without sacrificing aesthetic values. Understanding the cultural contexts of these Samurai castles helps create a better understanding of Japanese culture today.
In this fascinating Japanese castle book, you will discover the rich history and creators of famous castles such as Himeji, Osaka, and Nijo that you would otherwise need to travel to Japan to experience in person. Chronicling the story of each building conveys a greater understanding of how and why they were built, and identifies their unique features for historians, architecture aficionados, world travelers, and Japanophiles alike.
With over two hundred color images, numerous diagrams, maps, and detailed descriptions, Samurai Castles is the most comprehensive Japanese history book on this intriguing topic.
- GenresHistoryNonfictionJapan
128 pages, Hardcover
Published May 29, 2018
9 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 1, 2019
The main attraction here are the photos. There's a good mix of high quality panoramic shots and close ups of details such as the family crests at the ends of roof tiles, giving you a good impression of what each castle has to offer.
The text is just inspired enough to keep your interest, with the odd anecdote or piece of folklore to make the castles all that more memorable. It does come close to reading like a reference work at times though, with several paragraphs merely listing a castle's features. No doubt a result of trying to include all the pertinent information in what is actually very little text. The photos take up most of the book, which isn't a bad thing.
All in all I found this helpful in discovering some castles that are less well-known but have plenty of historical value, and I'll be sure to visit some of these on my trips to Japan. I'm also sure to pick this up again at times just to look at the photos.
The text is just inspired enough to keep your interest, with the odd anecdote or piece of folklore to make the castles all that more memorable. It does come close to reading like a reference work at times though, with several paragraphs merely listing a castle's features. No doubt a result of trying to include all the pertinent information in what is actually very little text. The photos take up most of the book, which isn't a bad thing.
All in all I found this helpful in discovering some castles that are less well-known but have plenty of historical value, and I'll be sure to visit some of these on my trips to Japan. I'm also sure to pick this up again at times just to look at the photos.
May 21, 2022
Very informative and a fascinating read of samurais and their history within Japan. Layout drove me absolutely nuts though, because it was difficult to read.
You also have to wonder if Tokugawa would have won if several of Toyotomi clans didn’t switch sides at last minute (some based on vision). 🤔
You also have to wonder if Tokugawa would have won if several of Toyotomi clans didn’t switch sides at last minute (some based on vision). 🤔
February 4, 2020
Beautifully illustrated and photographed. The information is for those deeply interested in castles and their history, but the pictures are for anyone who has or wants to enjoy a trip to a castle.
Shared this with a nephew and it sure makes a six year want to get to Japan ASAP.
Shared this with a nephew and it sure makes a six year want to get to Japan ASAP.
May 20, 2019
A tourist guide, like "it should be". Colorful pictures. Some historic text that is too little to make sense, and too much to be fun. The "how to get there" and that is about it. Even the title is misleading. These are Medieval Castles in which Samurai have lived.
February 16, 2022
This book is about what you would expect, covering 24 individual castles throughout Japan, tips on how to get to each one, and lots of photos. There are brief write ups about them, and an overview of castle construction. The book includes a list of 100 castles in Japan, as well as a glossary.
A lot of the photos and text focus on architecture and design details. The photos throughout are similar, focusing on such features as arrow holes, gates, and the arrangement of stones at corners. While this may have been intended to call out some distinctive aspects of each castle, taken together they had the opposite effect, as the castles tended to blend together and feel homogeneous.
The book is only OK on historical context, covering what feels to be the highlights of a Wikipedia article or several on-site plaques. An attentive reader may find some intriguing tidbits though.
All of the surviving castles were built during the Sengoku period. When that period ended, many were torn down when Tokugawa Ieyasu took control of Japan. Japanese castles were built wide to keep archers at bay; stables, interestingly, seemed to not be included in castle interior grounds. Several castle buildings burned down over time due to lightning strikes; less surprising is that many were destroyed by American air raids in WWII. Many castle structures now standing are actually modern reconstructions.
Less clear is how the castles actually functioned, in terms of power projection and military defense. My reading of the history outside of this book leads me to believe that castle assaults in Japan were rare; sieges were more often intended to starve out the defenders. Castles were also taken as a result of a defection of the castle lord from one daimyo to another. Rather, as the major battles of the Sengoku period themselves illustrate, decision in feudal Japan was achieved outside castles and on the battlefield.
I mention this because, if true, then we are left with the castles as beautiful curiosities, where the daimyo and others lived, loved, and died, but details (so often pictured in the book) like arrow holes and other military aspects of their design were often irrelevant. When seen this way, the various tenshu are striking landmarks, to be sure, but ones that have more akin to many of the modern office skyscrapers or high-rise condos in the major cities where these castles are located.
Alas, the book remains strikingly superficial on its topic, and any assessment of the castles as military fortresses, or their lasting cultural or architectural impact, is notably absent. The book itself, therefore, is a testament to these castles as a contemporary tourist attraction, a spectacle now as much as they were over 400 years ago.
A lot of the photos and text focus on architecture and design details. The photos throughout are similar, focusing on such features as arrow holes, gates, and the arrangement of stones at corners. While this may have been intended to call out some distinctive aspects of each castle, taken together they had the opposite effect, as the castles tended to blend together and feel homogeneous.
The book is only OK on historical context, covering what feels to be the highlights of a Wikipedia article or several on-site plaques. An attentive reader may find some intriguing tidbits though.
All of the surviving castles were built during the Sengoku period. When that period ended, many were torn down when Tokugawa Ieyasu took control of Japan. Japanese castles were built wide to keep archers at bay; stables, interestingly, seemed to not be included in castle interior grounds. Several castle buildings burned down over time due to lightning strikes; less surprising is that many were destroyed by American air raids in WWII. Many castle structures now standing are actually modern reconstructions.
Less clear is how the castles actually functioned, in terms of power projection and military defense. My reading of the history outside of this book leads me to believe that castle assaults in Japan were rare; sieges were more often intended to starve out the defenders. Castles were also taken as a result of a defection of the castle lord from one daimyo to another. Rather, as the major battles of the Sengoku period themselves illustrate, decision in feudal Japan was achieved outside castles and on the battlefield.
I mention this because, if true, then we are left with the castles as beautiful curiosities, where the daimyo and others lived, loved, and died, but details (so often pictured in the book) like arrow holes and other military aspects of their design were often irrelevant. When seen this way, the various tenshu are striking landmarks, to be sure, but ones that have more akin to many of the modern office skyscrapers or high-rise condos in the major cities where these castles are located.
Alas, the book remains strikingly superficial on its topic, and any assessment of the castles as military fortresses, or their lasting cultural or architectural impact, is notably absent. The book itself, therefore, is a testament to these castles as a contemporary tourist attraction, a spectacle now as much as they were over 400 years ago.
April 17, 2021
very good. but disliked the placement of pictures and corresponding text. they interrupted the flow of the main text.
August 31, 2019
DPL 728.81 MITCHELHI JENNIFER
Due, so returning and re-requesting. 16 July 2019 At Matsumoto Castle.
Due, so returning and re-requesting. 16 July 2019 At Matsumoto Castle.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews