Guide to Japanese Castles

Takane Castle and Nagashino Castle

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:00:00 PST

Added Takane Castle and Nagashino Castle from my recent trip to Shizuoka. Takane Castle was actually the stimulus for this little trip. I've been wanting to visit it since I picked up the book 戦国の山城 (sengoku no yamajiro), "Sengoku Period Mountaintop Castles", a couple of years ago and especially after visiting Arato Castle last fall.

Kakegawa Castle and Yokosuka Castle

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 08:00:00 PDT

I recently took an overnight trip to the Hamamatsu/Toyohashi area where I visited 7 castles in 2 days. The first leg of that trip took me back to Kakegawa Castle for the first time in 10 years. I also visited the nearby Yokosuka Castle. I debated whether to visit Takatenjin Castle which is physically fairly close to Yokosuka but by taking a combination of infrequent busses and trains from Yokosuka Castle or Kakegawa, it would have eaten up half a day for a location that has very few castle remains. I decided to go elsewhere instead, even though the history of Takatenjin Castle is closely related to that of Yokosuka Castle. It's not too far from Tokyo so I may make another trip there sometime or stop on the way to or from points farther west.

Odawara Castle and Ishigakiyama Ichiya Castle

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 08:00:00 PDT

I added Ishigakiyama Ichiya Castle and all new pictures for Odawara Castle from a recent day trip. These two castles are a perfect combination to do in a day trip from Tokyo. I happened to go on the national holiday "Sports Day" and certainly walked enough to live up to the holiday.

Todo Takatora - Master Castle Architect

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 08:00:00 PDT

Today I posted a short article about Todo Takatora. This is something I have been wanting to do for a long time. Several years ago after I visited Imabari, where I first heard of Todo Takatora, I noticed that his name appeared in relation to several other castles too so I kept an eye out for more information about him. He has biographies in many books about the Sengoku and Edo Period lords but I haven't seen anything that focuses on his castles. That collection of information resulted in this article. Perhaps soon I will do another article on Kato Kiyomasa, who was also a well-known castle architect.

Saga Castle, Kushima Castle, Akizuki Castle

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 08:00:00 PDT

Added Saga Castle, Kushima Castle and Akizuki Castle donated by the site Japanese Castle Explorer. Thanks again Daniel!

Roofs and Gables

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 08:00:00 PDT

Added a new Structures page for Roofs and Gables. I also added a couple other images of structural display models from Utsunomiya Castle to the structures pages for Walls and Yagura. Finally I redesigned the Structures introduction page.

Iwatsuki Castle

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 08:00:00 PDT

Added Iwatsuki Castle in Saitama.

Akashi Castle and Tatsuno Castle

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 08:00:00 PDT

Added several new pictures to Akashi Castle and Tatsuno Castle donated by Raymond W. Thanks again Raymond !!

Matsue Castle and Tottori Castle

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 08:00:00 PDT

Added several new pictures to Matsue Castle and Tottori Castle donated by Raymond W. Thanks again Raymond !

Clay Walls (dobei)

Sun, 02 Aug 2009 08:00:00 PDT

Added a new Structures page about wooden & clay/dirt walls. They are the numerous white walls you see at many castles. This page was created at the request of a reader. If there are any strctures you'd like me to write a page about, please let me know via the feedback link at the bottom of each page. I did something a little different with this page and put a couple pictures in a popup "lightbox." This allows you to see larger versions of some pictures that don't have full pages of their own and don't really need them.