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Osprey Fortress #5
Japanese Castles 1540–1640
The landscape of 16thand 17th-century Japan was dominated by the graceful and imposing castles constructed by the powerful 'daimyo' of the period. In this the most turbulent era in Japanese history, these militarily sophisticated structures provided strongholds for the consolidation and control of territory, and inevitably they became the focus for many of the great sieges of Japanese Nagashino (1575), Kitanosho (1583), Odawara (1590), Fushimi (1600), Osaka (1615) and Hara (1638), the last of the battles that brought an end to a period of intense civil war. This title traces their development from the earliest timber stockades to the immense structures that dominated the great centres of Osaka and Edo.
129 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 20, 2003
8 people are currently reading
118 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Turnbull
178 books123 followersStephen Richard Turnbull is British a historian specializing in eastern military history, especially the samurai of Japan. His books are mainly on Japanese and Mongolian subjects. He attended Cambridge University where he gained his first degree. He currently holds an MA in Theology, MA in Military History and a PhD from the University of Leeds where he is currently a lecturer in Far Eastern Religions. He has also written a number of books on other medieval topics. He is semi-retired but still holds the post of Visiting Professor of Japanese Studies at Akita International University in Japan.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 21, 2025
As my Goodreads friend said, Japanese castles look like wedding cakes. What they were referring to was actually the keeps, and the way the levels were stacked up. In castle jargon, the keep is the largest, tallest, and strongest part of the castle where the lord of the edifice lived. It was usually the last part to fall.
JAPANESE CASTLES 1540-1640 ties in pretty well with the other books written by the author in this series. He explains how different they are to European and Chinese castles. Chinese ones were large, and enclosed the whole town, as did European ones at a much later date. Originally Japanese castles were made by leveling the tops of mountains and erecting palisades of wood. They were defended by crossbows of various sizes as well as traction trebuchets. Later castles in the time period covered by this book also had an outer defensive wall around the keep, but their construction was unique.
The outer walls had a stone base of massive blocks and smaller stone blocks were stacked atop of them. These blocks were not joined by mortar and were not stacked vertically straight up like one would expect, but rather slightly sloped inwards to the castle. Neither were these stone walls very high. Atop of the stone foundation was a low wall consisting of bamboo poles lashed to a stout beam. All this was covered by fire resistant plaster which was painted white. Clay tile protected the plaster wall from the rain. Triangular gun ports and rectangular arrow ports were cut into the white wall. In a time of war a walkway could be added so troops could fire over the wall as well. The keep was a beautiful structure made of wood with a stone foundation. The picture on the book cover is a fine example. Inside were offices and armories, as well as the living quarters for the lord. One keep had the floorboards outside the lord's quarters constructed so that the boards squeaked loudly when stepped on. Back then they didn't have motion sensors like today. One never knew when an assassin was about.
As mentioned in another volume, once a warlord gained control of an area, he initiated a sword hunt. I am sure if the peasants had any arquebuses they were rounded up as well. Once his territory was a gun free zone the peasants were reduced to serfs, tied to the land and whomever owned it. Besides working the land for crops, they were expected to make wall repairs to the castles at their own expense. Should a typhoon rip through an area, they were expected to make castle repairs before seeing to their own dwellings. Their work day started with the beating of a drum at dawn till the ringing of the bell in the evening. Any poor workmanship resulted in the whole group being punished.
In preparation for a siege all foodstuff was to be moved to the castle. Any caught trying to leave the area with food was to be crucified. Some farsighted nobles had nut trees planted within the castle. One noble had 120 wells dug within the walls. Another had edible mats that covered the rooms of the keep. A repulsed attack on a castle resulted in an attempt to starve the defenders out.
The attacking force would try to sweep the defenders from the walls with gunfire from hundreds if not thousands of arquebuses. It was then that the attacking infantry would try to storm the walls. What was kind of strange was that although the various Japanese warlords had access to cannon, they were not used to batter the walls as in Europe. The samurai, being as they were, were all for infantry attack, so that may have had something to do with it. Taking of heads in hand to hand combat and presenting them to their lord was proof of their valor, for which they would be rewarded.
Most castles and keeps were destroyed over the years but there is a list of a handful that survived. The Naruse family still own Inuyama castle and the Edo castle is now the imperial palace in Tokyo. Those others in existence are open to the public and are fine museums.
JAPANESE CASTLES 1540-1640 ties in pretty well with the other books written by the author in this series. He explains how different they are to European and Chinese castles. Chinese ones were large, and enclosed the whole town, as did European ones at a much later date. Originally Japanese castles were made by leveling the tops of mountains and erecting palisades of wood. They were defended by crossbows of various sizes as well as traction trebuchets. Later castles in the time period covered by this book also had an outer defensive wall around the keep, but their construction was unique.
The outer walls had a stone base of massive blocks and smaller stone blocks were stacked atop of them. These blocks were not joined by mortar and were not stacked vertically straight up like one would expect, but rather slightly sloped inwards to the castle. Neither were these stone walls very high. Atop of the stone foundation was a low wall consisting of bamboo poles lashed to a stout beam. All this was covered by fire resistant plaster which was painted white. Clay tile protected the plaster wall from the rain. Triangular gun ports and rectangular arrow ports were cut into the white wall. In a time of war a walkway could be added so troops could fire over the wall as well. The keep was a beautiful structure made of wood with a stone foundation. The picture on the book cover is a fine example. Inside were offices and armories, as well as the living quarters for the lord. One keep had the floorboards outside the lord's quarters constructed so that the boards squeaked loudly when stepped on. Back then they didn't have motion sensors like today. One never knew when an assassin was about.
As mentioned in another volume, once a warlord gained control of an area, he initiated a sword hunt. I am sure if the peasants had any arquebuses they were rounded up as well. Once his territory was a gun free zone the peasants were reduced to serfs, tied to the land and whomever owned it. Besides working the land for crops, they were expected to make wall repairs to the castles at their own expense. Should a typhoon rip through an area, they were expected to make castle repairs before seeing to their own dwellings. Their work day started with the beating of a drum at dawn till the ringing of the bell in the evening. Any poor workmanship resulted in the whole group being punished.
In preparation for a siege all foodstuff was to be moved to the castle. Any caught trying to leave the area with food was to be crucified. Some farsighted nobles had nut trees planted within the castle. One noble had 120 wells dug within the walls. Another had edible mats that covered the rooms of the keep. A repulsed attack on a castle resulted in an attempt to starve the defenders out.
The attacking force would try to sweep the defenders from the walls with gunfire from hundreds if not thousands of arquebuses. It was then that the attacking infantry would try to storm the walls. What was kind of strange was that although the various Japanese warlords had access to cannon, they were not used to batter the walls as in Europe. The samurai, being as they were, were all for infantry attack, so that may have had something to do with it. Taking of heads in hand to hand combat and presenting them to their lord was proof of their valor, for which they would be rewarded.
Most castles and keeps were destroyed over the years but there is a list of a handful that survived. The Naruse family still own Inuyama castle and the Edo castle is now the imperial palace in Tokyo. Those others in existence are open to the public and are fine museums.
April 25, 2020
A detailed book about historical castles in Japan.
Obviously, after reading this book, I learned new information about Japanese war tactics.
Obviously, after reading this book, I learned new information about Japanese war tactics.
October 14, 2010
Japanese castles are beautiful and very different from western castles.
May 21, 2015
Ususally I read Osprey primers either for entertainment or as memory refreshers and individual booklets seldom present information with which I'm completely unfamiliar with. For that reason, I am perhaps not the best person to 'judge' those publications, which are intended as introduction to different topics in military history and technology. In this case however, I am exactly the intended 'audience' - before reading 'Japanese Castles 1540-1640', I had no knowledge whatsoever of the subject matter. And as a complete 'novice' I am happy to report that this publication is a wonderful introduction to japanese castles of late medieval period. Stephen Turnbull manages to cover a wide variety of subjects associated with those unique fortifications - evolution of their architecture as well as the reason for that development, how they were constructed and maintained, their role in peace &war and finally how they were defended and attacked. Supported by usual high quality graphics consisting of photographs and absolutely geogrous color plates (some of them covering two pages), this volume must be recommended to anyone with interest in subject matter or in military fortifications in general.
August 27, 2015
This book was detailed, educational, entertaining and had very good pictures and illustrations. When I think of an Osprey publication this is the style of book I expect. Great job.
October 31, 2022
To summarise, there are three types of Japanese castles- yamashiro, hirajiro and hirayamjiro. The series of earth bastions or interlocking baileys that form the Shikzan castle is uniquely Japanese, and so is the series of satellite castles. The main castle called honjo is where the daimyo lived and the satellite castles are called shijo. The huge stone bases not only supported the weight of the keep but also provided some amount of protection against earthquakes. Osaka means great slope. The three common styles of castle layout: rinkaku (concentric), renkaku (offset) and hashigokaku (tiered). The maze-like layout of Himeji castle is intriguing. Without a map or a guide, the invader would have had a hard time navigating the castle complex. According to the author, the key construction material was wood but Japanese castles are remarkably fire-resistant. How? Towards the end, the author provides a list of castles that are still standing or have been rebuilt, which is useful.
February 7, 2025
An overview of the types of Japanese castles that were prolific during the height of fortress warfare during the Sengoku period of Japan.
Many castles were designed as labyrinths to slow an sieging army's progress but also contained beautiful artistic and architectural elements in line with Japanese tradition and ethos.
A great read and a good guide to how some of these castles appear in Japan today.
Many castles were designed as labyrinths to slow an sieging army's progress but also contained beautiful artistic and architectural elements in line with Japanese tradition and ethos.
A great read and a good guide to how some of these castles appear in Japan today.
March 15, 2021
Informative.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews