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What is castle in Japan
“Shiro 城” refer to an area where was closed and well-guarded from attackers by moats, mountains, etc, so Matsumoto Castle was originally the whole area surrounded by the outer moat including these towers.
There are three types of castles in Japan; namely a castle on a mountain, a castle on a hill, and a castle on a flat land. A castle on a flat, like the Matsumoto castle, generally had less advantage in defense than the other types. In order to protect such a castle moats would be created. The Matsumoto castle was surrounded by two moats in the north and three moats in the other three directions. A swampland in the north worked as a natural defense.
Castle town had a complicated layout for defense. There were narrow roads or T-junctions so that enemies would not go straight or overlook the town easily. Temples were also a part of defense. It was built firmly surrounded by mud fences and had a large yard. Because of these features temples were set on the fringes of a town and had a role as fort.
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National Treasure
Although many castles are now standing in Japan, twelve of them keep their original structures from the Edo period, and only five of them have been designated as national treasure.
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Big Castle at Matsumoto
To watch movement of Ieyasu
When Toyotomi Hideyoshi unified the country, he forced Tokugawa Ieyasu to move to the Kanto region and formed a encircling net against Ieyasu. He trusted Ishikawa Kazumasa as his important subordinate, so he ordered Kazumasa to construct a big castle in Matsumoto in order to show off the power of Hideyoshi as well as to watch Ieyasu.
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The beautiful Castle Towers
The castle towers, It was a symbol to show off the power of a lord. Nobody lived in it normally.
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The charms
The charms against Fire & Evil spirits
The twenty sixth night Goddess
There is an interesting story, the story goes that, on the night of January 26, 1618, one of the man of the Todaclan was on duty in the castle tower. When the moon rose, a noble lady in a white kimono and red hakama suddenly appeared in front of him. She handed him a brocade bag and said, “If the lord enshrines the Nijurokuyashin with 500kg of cooked rice, the castle and the Todaclan will prosper.” Then she walked up towards the top of the main tower and disappeared. The following morning, he told the whole story to his lord, who took it very seriously and decided to deify the bag. He enshrined it on the beam in the ceiling here. From then on, Nijurokuyashin was worshipped on the night of the 26th of every month.
"Shachi-hoko"
A pair of Shachi is placed on the top ridge of the roof of a Japanese building. They are widely used in Japan as charms to protect against fire. Shachi is a Chinese legendary creature. It is believed that they extinguish a fire by spouting out water or bringing rain.
"Onigawara"
These are called devil tiles or Onigawara. The tiles were believed to protect castles from fire or misfortune, so they are put on the very end of the roof. Common designs are a devil face and a family crest.
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The defenses
Castles and Castle-Towns in Japan are normally designed for defense. Some examples are gates, moats, loopholes, stone drops, narrow and zigzag roads. They were laid out for reducing dead angles.
Ramparts
The castle was surrounded by three moats. Ramparts and mud walls with loopholes were created along the inner part of each moat. The main enclosure was especially protected by stone walls. Ramparts were zigzag to avoid any dead angles.
The Moats
The Loopholes
There are lots of holes in the walls. They are the loopholes, small square holes called Teppo-zama are for shooting muskets and rectangular holes called Ya-zama are for shooting arrows.
The Stone Drops
Those places where the walls jutting out over the stone foundation are called isiotoshi or stone drops. Defenders would drop stones through these holes to stop attackers climbing up the stone wall; they also shot guns through them.
Narrow & Zigzagged roads
