List of National Treasures of Japan (castles) explained

The Japanese Sengoku period from the mid-15th to early 17th century was a time of nearly continual military conflict. Powerful military lords known as daimyōs, such as Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi or Tokugawa Ieyasu, struggled to unify Japan. During the Sengoku period, because of constant warfare, many fortifications and castles were built. Archetypal Japanese castle construction is a product of the Momoyama period and early Edo period.

A new era of castle construction began when the daimyo Nobunaga built Azuchi Castle from 1576 to 1579. Earlier fortifications of the Kamakura and Muromachi periods were crude large-scale structures; Azuchi, however, with rich ornamentation and a keep rising seven stories high, became the prototype for castle construction of the period. The style of Azuchi Castle marked a shift in the function of the castles from a place that was merely a fortress and military garrison to a political, cultural and economic center. The newer style castles functioned as home to the daimyōs, his family, and his most loyal retainers. Because of the expense of building such a lavish structure, castles in the style of Azuchi, functioned also to highlight the power and prestige of the daimyōs. These new castles were built of wood and plaster on a stone foundation. Generally the main keep or tenshu was positioned at the highest point, surrounded by a series of interlocking baileys with walls, small towers and pathways. Residential buildings were located in one of the outer circles. The daimyō conducted his business in the citadel.

Almost 100 major castles were built between 1596 and 1615. The peak of castle-building occurred during the years 1600 to 1615: in 1600 Tokugawa Ieyasu defeated the Toyotomi clan in the Battle of Sekigahara; and in 1615 the Toyotomi forces were finally destroyed in the siege of Osaka. The Tokugawa shogunate then limited the number of castles to one per province; and banned the building of new castles entirely in 1620. By the time of the Meiji Restoration in the late 19th century, castles were in a state of disuse and neglect. Seen as symbolic of the ruling elite of previous eras, some castles were dismantled and sold as firewood. Others were destroyed by fire, earthquake or typhoon. Only twelve castles have a donjon that is 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".[1] This list presents nine entries of National Treasures from five castles built during the late Momoyama to early Edo period; however, the number of structures is actually more because in some cases multiple structures have been combined to form a single entry. The structures listed include donjon, watch towers and connecting galleries.[2]

In addition to the primarily defensive structures at these five castles, there are also six structures in Nijo Castle's Ninomaru Goten complex, a fortified palace complex located in the castle’s second or outer bailey (Ninomaru) that have National Treasure status.[3] Because these palace structures are listed as residences[4] by the Japanese cultural authorities, Nijo Castle is often not listed as a castle with national treasure structures. However, as goten (castle palaces) were the central and arguably most important feature of Japanese castles, the palace is a historical part of Nijo Castle.[5] In spite of its residential classification, Ninomaru Goten was actually used primarily for administrative purposes.[6] The Ninomaru Goten structures are not included in the list below.

Features

The nine national treasures on this list are distributed over five castles as follows: Himeji Castle has five national treasure structures; Hikone Castle, Inuyama Castle, Matsue Castle and Matsumoto Castle each have one. Three main types of castles exist. Generally the types are characterised according to the topography of the castle's site and named accordingly:

, as exemplified by Matsumoto Castle; and, which are castles built on hills in a plain such as Himeji Castle, Hikone Castle, Inuyama Castle, and Matsue Castle.The donjon can be constructed in two ways. In the older style,[7] the top of the main keep is formed by a type of lookout tower placed on top of one or more hip-and-gable (irimoya) style roofs. Hikone Castle, Himeji Castle, Inuyama Castle and Matsue Castle are representative of this style. The [8] style represented by the keep of Matsumoto Castle has a virtually square foundation. Each level is slightly smaller than the one below but maintains the same shape.[9]

Only in rare cases the donjon stands independent of other structures. Generally it is connected to smaller watch towers called yagura, either directly or via a in which case the style is called .[10] [11] 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.A typical keep would have between three and seven stories discernible from the outside. Its inner structure including the number of floors could differ from the outward appearance. Castle towers at Himeji, Inuyama, Matsue and Matsumoto Castle have one floor more than is visible from the outside.

Usage

The table's columns (except for Image) are sortable pressing the arrows symbols. The following gives an overview of what is included in the table and how the sorting works.

Treasures

NameCastleConstructionDateLocationImage
[12] [13] Shiga HikoneHikone, Shiga
35.2764°N 136.2518°W
and Shiga HikoneHikone, Shiga
35.2766°N 136.2519°W
[14] Himeji Castle[15] Hyōgo HimejiHimeji, Hyōgo
34.8394°N 134.6941°W
[16] Himeji Castle connected to the ro-corridor in the east and the ha-corridor in the southHyōgo HimejiHimeji, Hyōgo
34.8396°N 134.6938°W
[17] Himeji Castle connected to the ni-corridor in the east and the ha-corridor in the northHyōgo HimejiHimeji, Hyōgo
34.8394°N 134.6938°W
[18] Himeji Castle connected to the ro-corridor in the west and the i-corridor in the southHyōgo HimejiHimeji, Hyōgo
34.8396°N 134.6942°W
[19] [20] Himeji Castle
I-corridor: between Big Tenshu and East Small Tower, high on a 8.88m (29.13feet) high stone wall
Ro-corridor: between East Small Tower and Northwest Small Tower, high on a 8.3m (27.2feet) high stone wall
Ha-corridor: between Northwest Small Tower and West Small Tower, high on a 10.06m (33.01feet) high stone wall
Ni-corridor: between West Small Tower and Big Tenshu, high covering an area of 56.78m2		Hyōgo HimejiHimeji, Hyōgo
34.8395°N 134.694°W
[21] Aichi InuyamaInuyama, Aichi
35.3883°N 136.9392°W
[22] [23] [24] Shimane MatsueMatsue, Shimane
Matsue CastleShimane MatsueMatsue, Shimane
[25] Matsumoto CastleNagano MatsumotoMatsumoto, Nagano
36.2386°N 137.9689°W
Matsumoto CastleNagano MatsumotoMatsumoto, Nagano
36.2388°N 137.9688°W
Matsumoto CastleNagano MatsumotoMatsumoto, Nagano
36.2387°N 137.9688°W
Matsumoto CastleNagano MatsumotoMatsumoto, Nagano
36.2385°N 137.969°W
Matsumoto CastleNagano MatsumotoMatsumoto, Nagano
36.2385°N 137.9691°W

See also

Notes

General
  1. Web site: Cultural Properties for Future Generations . Agency for Cultural Affairs, Cultural Properties Department . Tokyo, Japan . March 2017 . 2017-12-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171216231044/http://www.bunka.go.jp/tokei_hakusho_shuppan/shuppanbutsu/bunkazai_pamphlet/pdf/pamphlet_en_03_ver05.pdf . 2017-12-16 . dead.
  2. Web site: Agency for Cultural Affairs. ja:国指定文化財 データベース. Database of National Cultural Properties. 2017-12-17. http://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/index_pc.html . ja. https://web.archive.org/web/20170502003537/http://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/index_pc.html. 2017-05-02. dead.
  3. Web site: Ninomaru-goten Palace / Garden | World Heritage Site Former Imperial Villa Nijo-jo Castle (Nijo-jo) .
  4. Web site: 国指定文化財等データベース .
  5. Web site: 超入門！お城セミナー【鑑賞】お城の中心だった御殿 その装飾にはどんな意味があるの？ .
  6. Nijo Castle - Jcastle.info
  7. Web site: bourougatatenshu. JAANUS – Japanese Architecture and Art Net User System. 2009-11-09.
  8. Web site: soutougatatenshu. JAANUS – Japanese Architecture and Art Net User System. 2009-11-09.
  9. Web site: Donjon . jcastle.info . 2017-12-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171216235510/http://jcastle.info/view/Main_keep . 2017-12-16 . dead.
  10. Web site: fukugou tenshu. JAANUS – Japanese Architecture and Art Net User System. 2009-11-09.
  11. Web site: renketsu tenshu. JAANUS – Japanese Architecture and Art Net User System. 2009-11-09.
  12. The National Treasure structures of Hikone Castle are registered as a single National Treasure under one registration number. Only in the main treasure table of this article, the single entry is split in two parts for readability.
  13. Web site: Hikone Castle . jcastle.info . 2017-12-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171216234504/http://www.jcastle.info/view/Hikone_Castle . 2017-12-16.
  14. Web site: http://www.city.himeji.lg.jp/s110/2212786/_5222/_5237/_5239/_5242.html . ja:姫路城大天守. Himeji Castle Big Tenshu. Himeji city. ja. 2009-11-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20160624065926/http://www.city.himeji.lg.jp/s110/2212786/_5222/_5237/_5239/_5242.html. 2016-06-24. dead.
  15. The four corridors at Himeji Castle are labeled as "I", "Ro", "Ha", "Ni" corresponding to "A", "B", "C", "D".
  16. Web site: http://www.city.himeji.lg.jp/s110/2212786/_5222/_5237/_5239/_5277.html . ja:姫路城乾小天守. Himeji Castle Northwest Small Tower. Himeji city. ja. 2009-11-17.
  17. Web site: http://www.city.himeji.lg.jp/s110/2212786/_5222/_5237/_5239/_5275.html . ja:姫路城西小天守. Himeji Castle West Small Tower. Himeji city. ja. 2009-11-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20160624090357/http://www.city.himeji.lg.jp/s110/2212786/_5222/_5237/_5239/_5275.html. 2016-06-24. dead.
  18. Web site: http://www.city.himeji.lg.jp/s110/2212786/_5222/_5237/_5239/_5278.html . ja:姫路城東小天守. Himeji Castle East Small Tower. Himeji city. ja. 2009-11-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20160624072124/http://www.city.himeji.lg.jp/s110/2212786/_5222/_5237/_5239/_5278.html. 2016-06-24. dead.
  19. The kitchen is attached to the nomination.
  20. Web site: http://www.city.himeji.lg.jp/s110/2212786/_5222/_5237/_5239/_5282.html . ja:姫路城イ・ロ・ハ・ニの渡櫓附台所1棟. Himeji Castle I, Ro, Ha, Ni-corridors and one attached kitchen. Himeji city. ja. 2009-11-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20160508173802/http://www.city.himeji.lg.jp/s110/2212786/_5222/_5237/_5239/_5282.html. 2016-05-08. dead.
  21. Web site: Inuyama Castle. Japanese National Tourism Organization. 2011-08-29.
  22. The National Treasure structures of Matsue Castle are registered as a single National Treasure under one registration number. Only in the main treasure table of this article, the single entry is split in two parts for readability.
  23. Web site: Matsue Castle . jcastle.info . 2017-12-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171216235039/http://www.jcastle.info/view/Matsue_Castle . 2017-12-16 . dead.
  24. Web site: http://www1.city.matsue.shimane.jp/bunka/bunkazai/matsuejyou/kokuhou.html . ja:松江城天守の国宝指定について. National Treasure Matsue Castle Tenshu. Matsue city. ja. 2015-09-21.
  25. The National Treasure structures of Matsumoto Castle are registered as a single National Treasure under one registration number. Only in the main treasure table of this article, the single entry is split in five parts for readability.
Architecture
  1. Web site: Cultural Properties for Future Generations . Agency for Cultural Affairs, Cultural Properties Department . Tokyo, Japan . March 2017 . 2017-12-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171216231044/http://www.bunka.go.jp/tokei_hakusho_shuppan/shuppanbutsu/bunkazai_pamphlet/pdf/pamphlet_en_03_ver05.pdf . 2017-12-16 . dead.
  2. Web site: Agency for Cultural Affairs. ja:国指定文化財 データベース. Database of National Cultural Properties. 2017-12-17. http://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/index_pc.html . ja. https://web.archive.org/web/20170502003537/http://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/index_pc.html. 2017-05-02. dead.
  3. Web site: Ninomaru-goten Palace / Garden | World Heritage Site Former Imperial Villa Nijo-jo Castle (Nijo-jo) .
  4. Web site: 国指定文化財等データベース .
  5. Web site: 超入門！お城セミナー【鑑賞】お城の中心だった御殿 その装飾にはどんな意味があるの？ .
  6. Nijo Castle - Jcastle.info
  7. Web site: bourougatatenshu. JAANUS – Japanese Architecture and Art Net User System. 2009-11-09.
  8. Web site: soutougatatenshu. JAANUS – Japanese Architecture and Art Net User System. 2009-11-09.
  9. Web site: Donjon . jcastle.info . 2017-12-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171216235510/http://jcastle.info/view/Main_keep . 2017-12-16 . dead.
  10. Web site: fukugou tenshu. JAANUS – Japanese Architecture and Art Net User System. 2009-11-09.
  11. Web site: renketsu tenshu. JAANUS – Japanese Architecture and Art Net User System. 2009-11-09.
  12. The National Treasure structures of Hikone Castle are registered as a single National Treasure under one registration number. Only in the main treasure table of this article, the single entry is split in two parts for readability.
  13. Web site: Hikone Castle . jcastle.info . 2017-12-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171216234504/http://www.jcastle.info/view/Hikone_Castle . 2017-12-16.
  14. Web site: http://www.city.himeji.lg.jp/s110/2212786/_5222/_5237/_5239/_5242.html . ja:姫路城大天守. Himeji Castle Big Tenshu. Himeji city. ja. 2009-11-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20160624065926/http://www.city.himeji.lg.jp/s110/2212786/_5222/_5237/_5239/_5242.html. 2016-06-24. dead.
  15. The four corridors at Himeji Castle are labeled as "I", "Ro", "Ha", "Ni" corresponding to "A", "B", "C", "D".
  16. Web site: http://www.city.himeji.lg.jp/s110/2212786/_5222/_5237/_5239/_5277.html . ja:姫路城乾小天守. Himeji Castle Northwest Small Tower. Himeji city. ja. 2009-11-17.
  17. Web site: http://www.city.himeji.lg.jp/s110/2212786/_5222/_5237/_5239/_5275.html . ja:姫路城西小天守. Himeji Castle West Small Tower. Himeji city. ja. 2009-11-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20160624090357/http://www.city.himeji.lg.jp/s110/2212786/_5222/_5237/_5239/_5275.html. 2016-06-24. dead.
  18. Web site: http://www.city.himeji.lg.jp/s110/2212786/_5222/_5237/_5239/_5278.html . ja:姫路城東小天守. Himeji Castle East Small Tower. Himeji city. ja. 2009-11-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20160624072124/http://www.city.himeji.lg.jp/s110/2212786/_5222/_5237/_5239/_5278.html. 2016-06-24. dead.
  19. The kitchen is attached to the nomination.
  20. Web site: http://www.city.himeji.lg.jp/s110/2212786/_5222/_5237/_5239/_5282.html . ja:姫路城イ・ロ・ハ・ニの渡櫓附台所1棟. Himeji Castle I, Ro, Ha, Ni-corridors and one attached kitchen. Himeji city. ja. 2009-11-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20160508173802/http://www.city.himeji.lg.jp/s110/2212786/_5222/_5237/_5239/_5282.html. 2016-05-08. dead.
  21. Web site: Inuyama Castle. Japanese National Tourism Organization. 2011-08-29.
  22. The National Treasure structures of Matsue Castle are registered as a single National Treasure under one registration number. Only in the main treasure table of this article, the single entry is split in two parts for readability.
  23. Web site: Matsue Castle . jcastle.info . 2017-12-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171216235039/http://www.jcastle.info/view/Matsue_Castle . 2017-12-16 . dead.
  24. Web site: http://www1.city.matsue.shimane.jp/bunka/bunkazai/matsuejyou/kokuhou.html . ja:松江城天守の国宝指定について. National Treasure Matsue Castle Tenshu. Matsue city. ja. 2015-09-21.
  25. The National Treasure structures of Matsumoto Castle are registered as a single National Treasure under one registration number. Only in the main treasure table of this article, the single entry is split in five parts for readability.

Bibliography

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "List of National Treasures of Japan (castles)".

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