User:Bamse/List of National Treasures (castles)

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During the Japanese Sengoku period from the mid 15th to early 17th century powerful military lords or daimyo like Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi or Tokugawa Ieyasu were struggling to unify Japan. In this time of nearly constant military conflict a large number of fortifications and castles were built in Japan. The archetypical Japanese castle is a product of the Momoyama period and early Edo period. The construction of Azuchi Castle from 1576 to 1579 by Nobunaga marked the beginning of a new era of castle construction. Richly ornamented and with the keep rising seven stories high, it differed considerably from fortifications of the Kamakura and Muromachi periods which were crude large scale structures. It served as a prototype for all the following castles. The construction of Azuchi Castle also marked a shift in the function of the castles from a fortress and place for the military garrison to serving as political, cultural and economic center and home of the daimyo, his family and the most loyal retainers. Due to the high construction costs, castles of this period presented symbols of prestige and the lord's power. These new castles were built of wood and plaster on a stone base. Generally the main keep or tenshu was positioned at the highest point and surrounded by a series of interlocking baileys with walls, small towers and pathways. Residential buildings were located in one of the outer circles and the lord's business was conducted in the citadel.

The peak of castle production occured between 1600, when Tokugawa Ieyasu defeated the Toyotomi clan in the Battle of Sekigahara, and 1615, when the Toyotomi forces were finally destroyed in the Siege of Osaka. Almost 100 major castles were bulit between 1596 and 1615. The Tokugawa shogunate then limited the number of castles to one per province and completely banned the building of new castles in 1620. By the time of the Meiji Restoration in the late 19th century, castles had become disused. Being a symbol of the previous ruling elite, they were sold as firewood and dismantled. Others were destroyed by fire, earthquake or typhoons. Today twelve of the castles' donjon are considered "original".

The term "National Treasure" has been used in Japan to denote cultural properties since 1897. The definition and the criteria have changed since the inception of the term. These castle structures adhere to the current definition, and were designated national treasures when the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties was implemented on  June 9, 1951. The items are selected by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology based on their "especially high historical or artistic value". This list presents 8 entries of castle structures from the late Momoyama to early Edo period located at four castles. In fact the number of structures presented is more than 8, because in some cases groups of related structures are combined to form a single entry. The structures listed include donjon, watch towers and connecting galleries.

Three main types of castles are usually distinguished according to site topography: mountain castles (山城), flatland castles (平城) (Matsumoto Castle) and flatland mountain castles (平山城), castles built on hills in a plain (Himeji Castle, Hikone Castle, Inuyama Castle). The donjon can be constructed in two ways. In the older bōrōgata (望楼型) style, the top of the main keep is formed by a kind of lookout tower placed on top of one or more hip-and-gable (irimoya) style roofs. Hikone Castle, Himeji Castle and Inuyama Castle are representative of this style. The sōtōgata (望楼型) style represented by the keep of Matsumoto Castle has an almost square foundation with every level a bit smaller than the one below but keeping the same shape.

Only in rare cases stands the donjon independent of other structures. Generally it is connected to smaller watch towers called yagura, either directly (fukugōshiki (複合式)) or via a connecting gallery (渡櫓) in which case the style is called renketsushiki (連結式). Matsumoto Castle has both styles, renketsushiki in the northwest and fukugōshiki in the southeast. At Himeji Castle three watch towers, four connecting galleries and the main donjon enclose a small courtyard.


 * examples
 * castle design
 * castle history

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