History of Asia

Differences in castle form depending on the terrain

* The image was borrowed from the Urabe Institute.

This time, I would like to dig a little deeper into the form of the castle due to the terrain.

Before I talk about this, I want to keep in mind ...

  • Castle built in the mountains ⇒ Yamashiro
  • Castle using hills ⇒ Hirayama Castle
  • Castle built on flat ground ⇒ Heijo

Please hold down.

From Yamashiro to Hirajo / Hirayamashiro ...

The birth of the samurai late Heian The castle of the time is a flatland mansion Was the main, not in the form of a castle. Since the Kamakura period, Yamashiro has used mountains. Will be built.

Yamashiro was conceived to escape and siege when a large army invaded. The turmoil of the Northern and Southern Dynasties After that, in the Warring States period, lords from all over the world will build mountain castles, but if there are obstacles using terrain other than mountains, Hirajo / Hirayamajo Will also be built.

Even in the Warring States period, Yamashiro boasted the strongest defense ability in the era without guns, but it has not been built since the Oritoyo administration. However, when guns became mainstream, the ammunition fell when the matchlock was pointed down, making it impossible to shoot from top to bottom, and because many vassals were terminated and made to live in the plains. It has become common to build castles in Japan.

Even if it is simply called the plain, there are many plains with hills in Japan, so many of the castles are Hirayama Castle . was.

So generally Hirajo Where was it built? Sea, rivers, low-lying areas It was built with such things as obstacles. Therefore, the basis of the modern castle was Hirayama Castle.

Characteristics of Yamashiro that can defeat a large army using the height difference

* Kenshin Uesugi's Kasugayama Castle ↑

In Japan, where there are many mountains, it has been considered the safest way to escape to the mountains if attacked by a large army. If you can take a position on the mountain, you can get a big effect just by throwing stones and logs at the enemy attacking from below instead of weapons.

Yamashiro is a independent mountain More Kuruwa * Easy to make, type with long and thin ridges The feature is that many mountains are selected. Shingen Takeda and Kenshin Uesugi as famous Sengoku daimyo Also used to be a mountain castle type castle.

* Kuruwa =A general term for areas where the inside and outside of the castle are divided by earthworks, stone walls, moats, etc., and is also called Guo (Kuruwa) ..

Even if you say Yamashiro in a bite, a type that has a mansion at the foot of the mountain and separates the mountain top as a stuffed castle And, the castle with a lot of Kuruwa including the vassal residence etc. on the whole mountain There is something that I did.

Shingen Takeda Is Tsutsujigasakikan Kenshin Uesugi Kasugayama Castle Was the latter type, where the entire mountain was made into a castle and Kenshin himself set up his residence on the top of the mountain.

Hybrid Hirayama Castle using the hills of the plains

Also known as Hill Castle Also called.

A moat that surrounds the entire hill must also be created, which requires large-scale construction.

Due to the cost and time required, the return is large, the gun is easy to use, and it is also excellent in defense. It was easy to run a large castle town, as it was possible to have vassals live in the surrounding area. It can be said that it is a good castle that has both the defense power of Yamashiro and the size of Heijo.

Hirayama Castle There are also two types, the main part is made using the ridge of the hill, and the castle owner's residence is made at the foot of the mountain And the one that is surrounded by a curved ring in a staircase shape by scraping the entire hill had.

Heijo, who is often protected by unexpected obstacles

I wrote that many mountain castles were built during the Warring States period, but that doesn't mean that Hirajo wasn't built.

Mountains are not the only natural terrain available. Rivers, lakes and marshes Many castles were built with such obstacles as obstacles.

In particular, swampy lowlands Was very effective as an obstacle because he couldn't use the ship because he was taken off. However, if there are no obstacles, the surrounding area will be surrounded by moats, etc., comprehensive contour type . Castle will be the standard specification. This format is Yamagata Castle, Yonezawa Castle, Tsuruoka Castle It is a castle that is often found in the Yamagata region.

Besides that, Nijo Castle / Sunpu Castle There is also a castle built by the Tokugawa family. These castles were built in the city as a symbol of power rather than defense.

This comprehensive contour There are many castles that utilize the terrain as it is, and there are many patterns. Even though it is a castle, it seems that there were many castles that survived the long-term siege battle.