Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
When the castles were built, they were expected to have to withstand swords and
spears, arrows and battering rams and the use of fire, but certainly no heavy artillery. The
firearmsbroughtinbythePortugueseandotherswerelimitedtomuskets,pistols,andsome
small cannon. A certain amount of iron reinforcement to gates, and rounded embrasures
for muskets (as distinct from the slits required by archers), were all the modifications that
were needed. The Shogun naturally did his best to ensure that no advanced weapons got
intothehandsofhispotentialfoes.Moreover,frombeingastrongholdagainstneighboring
lords,thesecastles became ratheradefenseagainst possibleattack byrebellious townsmen
or revolting peasants, who were not likely to be well disciplined or to be equipped with
other than simple weapons. Thus not much more was required than stout gates and steep
approaches.
(12)HimejiCastle,knownasthe“WhiteHeron,”isagreatcomplexofwallsandbuildings,
and illustrates the defensive features mentioned in the text.
One of the most magnificent of these castles is that built by Ieyasu at Kyoto in the first
decade of the seventeenth century. More of a palace than a castle, it was used as the Sho-
gun'slodgingwhenhecametoKyoto;itwasinagrandiosestyle,partlytorivaltheEmper-
or'spalace,andpartlytocompetewiththegloriesofHideyoshi'scastle(whichIeyasulater
had destroyed) outside Kyoto. Nijō Castle is still surrounded by a wall and moat, and the
mound on which the keep was built remains, although the keep itself is gone. The palace
is basically a series of rooms, the floors covered by
tatami
—thick straw mats finished with
woven grass, the standard flooring in houses of the well to do. The rooms are divided from
