NCTA Intersections Workshop: East Asia & STEAM The University of Pittsburgh June 22-24, 2011 Amy Swartz [email protected]@wrsd.org Warrior Run High

HIMEJI CASTLE :

Japan’s “White Crane Castle”

NCTA Intersections Workshop: East Asia & STEAM

The University of Pittsburgh

June 22-24, 2011Amy Swartz [email protected]

Warrior Run High School

Turbotville, PA

http://thundafunda.com/33/World-tour/Himeji%20Castle,%20Himeji,%20Japan%20pictures.html

Japanese Castles: Symbols of Samurai Authority & Wealth for Fortification & Administration

mailto:[email protected]

http://thundafunda.com/33/World-tour/Himeji%20Castle,%20Himeji,%20Japan%20pictures.html

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.ease.com/~randyj/alljapan.jpg&imgrefurl=http://ease.com/~randyj/japanmap.htm&h=963&w=1011&sz=210&tbnid=EG-yAPyBvdHiPM:&tbnh=84&tbnw=88&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dmap%2Bof%2Bjapan%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=map+of+japan&usg=__JCqwaaTqyBDckH1wqJXWSOI1wfY=&sa=X&ei=bmf-TZOrDofm0QG354WwAw&ved=0CDIQ9QEwBQ&dur=487

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Key Questions:

1. How did the feudal structure of Japan and European influences give rise to castle construction during the late 16th and early 17th centuries?

2. How were castles designed, who built them, and what materials & techniques were used in their construction?

3. What were the economic, political, cultural impacts of the castles?

4. What caused the decline of castle construction?

Feudalism in Japan

http://3-b-s.eu/social%20structure%20of%20japan.html

• Daimyo controlled a collection of domains, including the peasants inhabitants

• A domain’s value was not based on its size, but by the amount of rice it could produce.

• The minimum for daimyo status –10,000 koku (= 5.2 bushels of rice which could feed one man for one year)

European Influences: Trade, Christianity & . . . . Portuguese arrived in Japan in the 1540’s

Trade Counter Reformation – spread Catholicism

St. Francis Xavier – Jesuit missionary to Japan

. . . . the Arquebus

shogun2.heavengames.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EdoJapaneseArquebuse.jpg

Transition to Unification (1560-1603)

Oda Nobunaga Toyotomi Hideyoshi Tokugawa Ieyasu

moderntokyotimes.com samurai-archives.com

newworldencyclopedia.org

If a bird won’t sing:Nobunaga would say, “Kill it.”Hideyoshi would say, “Make it want to.”Ieyasu would say, “Wait.”

Tokugawa Shogunate (1603-1868)

affordabletrafalgartours.ca

Castles: Location• Proximity to capital• Access to major

routes/highways• Blocked other

domains

• Himeji – located on a key route to the western provinces

Mitchelhill, Jennifer, and David Green. Castles of the Samurai: Power and Beauty. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 2003. Print

Castles: Purpose & Design Compared

Through the early 16th century

Early versions – military strongholds built during expansion (families lived in the area below the castle; used the “castle” only when their safety was threatened.)

*Mountain Castles – the defensive properties of the terrain were key; wood construction, residential quarters & a moat

Conjectural reconstruction of residence area of Asakura Castle

Nishi, Kazuo, and Kazuo Hozumi. What Is Japanese Architecture? Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1996. Print.

Castles: Purpose & Design Compared

Unification & the Edo Period: Late 16th century - 1800

*Flat-land Mountain Castles – built on low rises located within flat plains.

-administrative rule vs. military defense

-distinguished from earlier types due to their massive stone foundations, multi-storied tenshu or donjon (keep) and general size and grandeur.

Himeji’s Evolution 1333 – simple fort on Himeyama Hill 1581 – Hideyoshi built a castle with a three

story tenshu (main tower/keep) 1601-1609 – current main structure was built

by Tokugawa Ieyasu’s son-in-law Ikeda Terumasa with an expenditure of labor believed to have totaled 25 million man days

Himeji garrisoned from 500-4000 family members and samurai soldiers throughout its tenure.

Castle Layout

Perimeters were circular or pentagonal in shape to optimize defense

Expansive grounds with fortified outworks were necessary to protect the mostly wooden structures.

Series of 3-7 compounds built of various levels were protected by stone walls, moats, and towers.

A maze-like effect was created by the walls, moats, gates, etc. to purposefully confuse the enemy.

Himeji is 152 feet high and its grounds span 576 acres

Mitchelhill, Jennifer, and David Green. Castles of the Samurai: Power and Beauty. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 2003. Print.

Once the castle layout was determined, the moats were dug first. The excavated earth was used to build ramparts to support the stone walls. Dry or filled with water or fine mud Exterior moats were the widest and deepest. Sides were lined with stone to prevent erosion in either a U-

shape or box shape

Moats


Himeji’s Three Moats

Parts of the central moat and all of the inner moat survive (the outer moat is now buried) The moats have an average width of 66 feet, a maximum width 113 feet, and a depth of about 8.9 feet. The Three Country Moat is a pond, with one purpose of storing water for use in fire prevention.

Stone Walls

Two Types of Stone Walls


Used around the compound & main tower

Stability to reach to 100 feet high Impervious to cannon fire

Used for the bases of towers, gates Inner core was usually 3-6 feet

deep

Stone Walls Various stones were used, based on availability.

No mortar was used – dry walls allowed for movement during an earthquake

Placement of cut stones or field stones, with smaller pebbles as infill, and cracked stones to fill gaps “locked” the stones together.

Large or decorative stones were used for gateways or the base of the main tower.

Particular attention was paid to the corners, typically using chiseled cut stone to ensure proper angles & fit, greatly improving stability of the structure.

As castle heights increase, the curved wall helped lessen the strain on the lower stones by distributing the weight over a wider area and made it more difficult for the enemy to climb.

Construction Costs and Workforce Daimyo were expected to provide stones

and labor for construction in accordance with their income.

Often stones in castles would bear the marks of the individual daimyo or stonemasons, indicating the stones or sections of wall they had been responsible for.

Procuring the stones was a key responsibility of the official in charge of the castle fortification. If stones were in short supply, often temple ruins and grave yards were plundered.

Stones were moved by ship, sled, or rolled on a series of logs. Smaller stones were carried in slings and ropes, with pulleys and poles used for positioning.


Pictures of Tradesmen by Kuwakata Keisai, 1804

• Contains five stories, with six floors in addition to a basement

• The main tenshu is surrounded by 3 smaller ones – one of the most complex castle designs

• Dormers, Chinese cusped gables, & ornamentation indicate concern for visual effect.

• Storage facilities and wells allowed the castle to withstand a lengthy siege

• First floor • Area known as “the thousand mat

room” due to the 330 Tatami mats• Weapons racks on the walls

• Contains lavatories and a kitchen, not found in other castles.

Himeji’s Tenshu or Donjon

To make the mud & plaster walls, bamboo poles in grid form were fastened with straw rope in a wooden frame. An earth, sand, and straw mixture was made into tennis sized balls and pushed into the bamboo grid from both sides. Layers of plaster made from seaweed, shell lime and water coated the mud walls. These walls are reputed to be stronger than concrete.

Interior – wooden structure utilizing two main wooden pillars built on a stone foundation with plaster-covered mud walls 1.5 feet thick. (fire resistant)


•Loopholes in outer walls:• Tall and narrow – arrow ports• Square, circular, or triangular – firearms

Elements for Defense


Stone- Drops – shafts built into the walls were used for dropping stone, boiling oil or excrement on the enemy

Elements for Defense

Gates

Himeji’s Daimond Gate – the first of the remaining 21 gates

Considered the weakest point of the castle, multiple gated passages were created which opened to courtyards where the castle’s inhabitants could counter-attack.

Himeji’s Ru Gate

Nail heads were considered unsightly and therefore were covered with circular, floral, or spear shaped ironwork .

Manju Kanamono -“round cake ironwork”

Ornamentation

Layered Tiled Roof

Family Crest Eve-end Tiles

Toyotomi HideyoshiTokugawa Ieyasu Ikeda Terumasa

A mythical tiger-headed fish motif was used atop the castle towers as a talisman for fire prevention.

Screens and sliding doors displayed some of the finest artwork.

http://archives.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/media/archives_2004/Japanese_Screen_Painting

cambridge2000.com

The Castle Town

The last line of defense…. Daimyo and chief vassals

lived at the castle compound Samurai lived in quarters in

the immediate vicinity Merchants and artisans lived

in the “downtown” business district, grouped according to trades

Curved, narrow streets followed the shape of the castle perimeter.

Centers of urban growth, supporting the daimyo’s political, economic , and cultural needs.

Castle Decline Tokugawa Shogunate:

Law of one castle per domain resulted in the dismantling of 400 castles, mostly in western Japan.

Repairs had to approved shogunate hindering rebuilding. Taxation and travel to and from the capital every 6

months to a year was expensive, leaving little to finance reconstruction.

Many were destroyed by fire (initiated by earthquake or lightening)

Meiji Restoration – remove reminders of the feudal past

World War II – occupied by military > targeted for bombing

Works Consulted

Ebrey, Patricia Buckley, Anne Walthall, and James B. Palais. "Chapter 17: Edo Japan (1603-1800)." East Asia: a Cultural, Social, and Political History. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2009. Print.

Himeji Caslte, World Cultural Heritage. Print.

"Himeji Castle." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 10 June 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himeji_Castle>.



Spry-Leverton, Peter, Peter F. Kornicki, and Joel Sackett. Japan. New York, NY: Facts on File Publications, 1988. Print.

Varley, H. Paul. Japanese Culture. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi, 2000. Print.

"Virtual Tour Himeji." WELCOME TO HIMEJI CASTLE. Web. 12 June 2011. <http://www.himeji-castle.gr.jp/index/English/>.

Documents

NCTA Intersections Workshop: East Asia & STEAM The University of Pittsburgh June 22-24, 2011 Amy Swartz [email protected]@wrsd.org Warrior Run High