Samurai Castles: Evolution and Overview
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- Опубликовано: 28 сен 2024
- An overview and look into the evolution of the iconic castles of the Samurai. This video will first dive into into early fortifications built in Japan and go on through all of the advancements throughout the years leading up the creation of the famous citadels we know today.
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Sources Used:
"Samurai Castles" by Jennifer Mitchelhill
"Strongholds of the Samurai: Japanese Castles 250-1877" By Stephen Turnbull
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Music:
"While an Angel Falls into a Doze" by Takashi Yoshimatsu
Artwork/Images:
Classical art, which in most cases can be considered public domain.
Art from Osprey Publications.
Tourism Website Photos.
Other modern artist renditions or photos, if you see your work in this video please contact me so that I can give you proper credit!
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Social Media:
Facebook: / theshogunateyoutube
Twitter: / shogunatethe
Support the channel on Patreon! www.patreon.co...
#Samurai #Japan #History
*Nanboku-cho 5:59
Q 👞
Osaka-jo
If you also live on an island where 3 tectonic plates meet I don't think the frequent earth quacks, tsunami's & volcanic eruptions would help to keep jiro/castles intact.
I give them props for managing to overcome the restraints placed by geographic location.
南北朝
Japanese Man titanic
There's only one true castle: Takeshi's Castle 🏯
DrSunTzu with Craig Charles as the Daimyo
The true impregnable castle, even odawara and osaka couldn't match it
DONT!
GET!
ELIMINATED!!!
I prefer osaca's castle
Best comment
I once visited Osaka castle, i was fascinated and mesmerized when i was inside, walking around the inner part of the castle and the interiors and towards the top. I was awestruck. Now i wish to visit more in the future especially azuchi or himeji. Or go even north.
Nothing about Osaka castle is original, except for the stone walls, and a few things displayed inside the 天守閣。
Himeji is nice/largest left I think, busy tho bring a hat on a sunny day.
Ricci Escutin if you visit Himeji you will see a real castle. It is stunning. I heard that all the buildings in Himeji still need to be built lower than the castle out of respect.
@@rayvanwayenburg998 On my channel you can see my trip to Himeji castle around 4 years or so ago.
earlysda Interestingly, if I recall correctly, during the Pacific War American bomber crews were strictly forbidden to bomb Osaka castle as it was a cultural edifice . One disobedient bomber crew did bomb the castle intentionally, damaging it somewhat. The pilot and some of the crew were court martialed and punished.
13:50 correction: Medieval siege towers in Europe were extremely rarely ever used for scaling walls, if ever - instead they were used as elevated platforms for archers, crossbowmen or gunners
European castle walls were instead assaulted using battering rams, trebuchets, ladders or the much later cannons, which forced the adaptation of the iconic low-height Star Fortress of the Italian style to be adopted by most of Western Europe to counter artillery and direct assaults, and forcing enemies to resort to digging trenches or other expensive means of capturing the fort
Too many movies got people thinking otherwise
Yep, seems that people realized that siege tower was only effective as firing platform and only when resources allowed for it. So use was very much the same in Europe as in Asia
While I agree on the siege towers, battering rams weren't used to destroy walls, they used them only to destroy gates. Of course they could be used to destroy smaller stone walls (more like barricades, palisades, or wooden walls fortified with stone), but the surely weren't used to destroy bigger stone walls. They just used trebuchets, tunnels, catapults, gunpowder siege machines etc
@@abceyz9241 That's not completely correct. One of the reasons that many later castels and town defences hat round towers was that one could use a battering ram to knock out the corners of square towers and make them collapse
@dorad100 No, I don't think so. They were made round as that shape stood up better against projectiles "bolders" and under mining.
“And jin sakai” i actually laughed out loud. Great video by the way and super happy to see more from you! Keep up the great stuff!
i tried to pause it on änd Jin Sakai", can't do it... he really is the ghost
I visited the Kumamoto Castle once, and was thoroughly impressed with the entire area. It was stunning to see such a gigantic structure that was so well preserved, from the entrance, passing up the different areas all the way to the manor, and the castle proper. I only wish I had more time on my trip there to visit more places. But I was also impressed at all of the local locations that still had a lot of the older statues as well. If any of the other castles were like Kumamoto I would happily take another trip to Japan to see them.
Many parts of Kumamoto castle are destroyed by the great earthquake of 2016.....I'm so sad :(
I recommend Hikone, Matsuyama, Gochi, and Takamatsu castle instead. If you also like castle ruins without wooden buildings, I also recommend Takeda castle.
Yes...I was there just before the earthquake. The wooden construction in the entrance area was really impressive...like huge trees were processed there. When you saw the multiple rings of huge stone walls and the 50 m moats between them, it was hard to imagine that this fortress could be taken... but it was taken.
I've traveled extensively around Japan and seen tons of castles in my time, each of them unique and appealing in their own unique way. The one that stands out to me is Matsumoto Castle for it ubiquity. I would certainly love to visit the Takeda Castle Ruins one day. Quite happy to see both these castles being featured in your video.
how can a single, unique castle be ubiquitous?
Always loved the stone foundations made completely without mortar.
Some master architect had to go to great lengths to painstakingly fit individual stones to create those foundations and achieving the sharp corners solely by fitting individual stones at hand.
Always struck me as very Japanese, and reminds me of Zen gardens in a way.
The Shogunate: "Defenders would fling down stones, boiling water or even HOT SAND"
Anakin Skywalker: o_o
It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere
Sam Ling The Defenders have the high ground!
Nobody expects pocket sand
Ever had your sandal swallowed by a sand dune in the summer heat? Hot sand suuuuucks.
It's over Anakin, we have the highground and the hot sand
My grand mother in law comes from a family, the Yokochi, who lost their castle to the 1 castle per province decree. She's the last of her family, kindda sad.
I get that. A family branch of mine used to own plenty of lands, shops, wine fields, a cinema, etc. but they lost it all in WWII. It's not like it was all destroyed, but they were essentially put onto a death-march towards the new boundaries of Austria and the ones that took over had no bl00dy idea of how to maintain those things and the shops went out of business, the buildings fell apart, etc. (that's also true for many castles and chateaux that fell into Soviet-controlled lands, it hurts my eyes to see what survived the war only to burn down later) and we never, ever got any compensation, neither for the financial losses, nor the suffering my relatives went through.
In another *plot twist* my in laws live on former Date Masamune land, Iwadeyama.
Imagine having lots of land, this post was made by peasant gang
@@tanegashima5395 Imagine having a great name and having used to own a lot...
edi *The Habsburgs left the chat*
What a lovingly produced and generous video-was so happy to see it in my notifications
I've been to the Goryokaku, star fort, and Matsumae castle when I lived in Hokkaido! Technically not a feudal castle, but the Goryokaku was the last stand of the Shogunate and the Republic of Ezo. It's pretty amazing how the ruins seamlessly fit into the city as a cherry blossom park. Love the videos btw!
I love the diversity of your content, well done
Four years of my early childhood I lived in Himeji. From my home in Shirakuni a little north-east of the center, we could see the Himeji Castle, beautifully lit up at night. To me the Himeji Castle is the most beautiful building in the world.
I have been to every original castle in Japan and my favorite is Matsumoto I have just always enjoyed walking around inside it more than the others and love how it looks on the outside. I have been there 3 times so far and look forward to visiting again. My favorite castle with a reconstructed keep is Kumamoto as it still has some amazing original towers that are more impressive than some original keeps and the walls are amazing. Unfortunately, it will be many years before people can see it as it was again and I am very lucky to have visited prior to the earthquake.
Ghost of Tsushima brought me here but my love of history is keeping me here. Keep up the great work I’m learning tons and am enjoying it. You’ve got my subscription.
These buildings just beautifully compliment the natural scenery !
I remember visiting a castle in Osaka when I was 8 years old. It was beautiful but had the world's steepest staircases.
I have been to Japan over 30 times; I really like visiting the dead castles because you can feel the ghosts of the past. I took some great photos of Fukuoka-jo in 2019 new year. I love seeing the castles getting fresh work done like the 2019-2020 upgrades to Himeji. It breathes life into the culture and the techniques. The science of their construction is often laid bare for all to see with instructions a plenty in English within the castle themselves. Japan is probably the greatest capitalist nation on earth because they have learnt how to create interest in the growth they are perusing. In the 'west' we just chase an empty dollar and forget our (apparently embarrassing) history...
How you came to the conclusion that Japan is the greatest capitalist nation on earth is beyond me. Their economy, has for a rough 3 decades, been horrible. Your then, unfounded jump to "west is bad" is even more baffling. Don't get me started on the history part.
@@Pekskeh
or the mountains of genocide denial.
@@IRmightynoob They actually don't deny it and have apologized countless times.
"In the 'west' we just chase an empty dollar and forget our (apparently embarrassing) history." It seems to be the other way around. Before 1615, there were nearly 600 castles in Japan. Then for probably the same reasons the Chinese Ming Fleet was dismantled, subsequent governments had most castles destroyed, dismantled or neglected, though recently Samurai castles have been making a limited comeback.
This same mindset extends to cities. With the exception of a few, such as Kyoto, Beijing and Xian, Asian cities today are nothing more than modern skyscrapers and office and apartment buildings. In contrast, virtually all cities in Europe have been assiduously preserved and restored, even after being totally demolished by war. Contrast Coventry, Hamburg, Cologne, Dresden, Warsaw, St. Petersburg with Tokyo, Osaka, Shanghai, Guangzhou.
@@Pekskeh Your reading comprehension is not great
Oh yes! I was drawinging a japanese castle for a background ans was thinking of this XX
🇲🇳⚔🇵🇹🇨🇳
Wow, what a great video. Now I need to go play some Shogun 2 and put my newfound knowledge about Japanese castles to good use.
Thank you for this informative documentary on the Japanese feudal castles. I really enjoy Japanese history and cultural history docs. Please keep them coming.😊
Video Hasn't started and already happy
Wait that’s illegal
@@Jebbson13 only if you get caught.
5:40
" And Jin Sakai "
ah, a *man of culture*
Literally binged all of your vids, not only have I been looking forward to someone who does in depth looks into Medieval Japan, but who does it well. I was wondering if you will ever look at the culture and social practices of the Japanese during the Sengoku Jidai? Something I often wondered was what was the court/daimyo etiquette procedures, as well as how one can be your enemy one day only to become a trusted friend the next (it just seems so rapid). Keep up the great content!
That is something I definitely want to get into more at some point!
Wow and Thank You, It makes you rethink about world history.
I would like to see a breakdown of the internal structure of these castles as buildings. How much of the construction was wood, for instance?
基本的に、屋根と土台と外壁以外の全てが、木材でできています。
Basically everything but the foundations of the castles are wood. And something akin to plaster on the outside to hide the planks. Unlike China, Japan doesn't have the space, nor did they have the need, to create 20 meter thick dirt-and-brick walls surrounding a 100 square kilometer area lol.
i visited Kanazawa Castle a few years ago and it was incredible! definitely will visit the others when i come to Japan again.
great video by the way 👍
Maragame-jo is one of my top castles of all time. And definitely my favorite on Shikoku.
Have you been to all of the ones on Shikoku? Personally, I really liked Imabari. Coastal castle though, and Marugame is a hilltop one, so maybe "apples and oranges".
It's sad to think about all the castles lost. Such beautiful architecture.
So interesting! I LOVE the way the castles were designed and their unique architecture!! Snow capped in winter is a beautiful scene
Thank you for your work. It's a pleasure to have so many interesting videos about feudal Japan. You are one of the best channels on this topic. Feudal Japan was one of the first historical topics I got interested into, your channel helps me maintaining this interest and I thank you for that.
I'm from the UK and have visited Japan 6 times as my partner is Japanese, Osaka and Nagoya are fantastic castles, well worth a visit, I've also been to Matsumoto castle, or 'Crow Castle'as its black like the ones you mention. Takeda castle or 'Castle in the Sky" as its known, as its a tough climb to get there (you can get a coach, i wished i did) its just foundations, but a spectacular view! Okayama castle is superb, lucky for me there was a sword expo the day i went, with antique Samurai blades on show, was amazing. My partners parents live in Kakogawa, which is one stop from Himeji, and i have visited Himeji castle more times than i can remember, its sublime, and the area surrounding it, i love that castle so much i got it tattood on me as part of my japanese leg sleeve, great video and great channel, need to get through the rest of your vids, keep it up and thanks!
A wonderful and informative video on castles of Japan! Thank you and keep the videos coming!!
Want to see discussion of religious history and theology.
Thats gonna be interesting
Linfamy discusses that sorta thing on his channel.
Your drawings look a tad bit better than I would do, so good job. I like that you cover all of the feudal Japanese history, not just the samurai or ninja. I enjoy history, but I get to busy with a lot of other things, and don’t have time to read history books. Thanks.👍
This video sparked an interest in Japanese history for me.
The castle at Matsumoto, september 2017. There was a food festival going on right outside the castle grounds. Did not see the inside unfortunately, due to VERY long queues and a train to catch...
Thank you for another great video about samurai culture ! In my opinion, I think the Ikko-Ikki are the best castle defender. They truly gives Nobunaga headache when he tried to take Ise Nagashima Ganshoji that he finally decide to burn the whole place down to make them surrendered. Not to mention Ishiyama Honganji, Nobunaga wages war with them for more than ten years before he finally won the siege and only by the involvement of the Emperor. They really know how to hold the fort. Another great castle defender are Yukimura Sanada, by erecting Sanada Maru during the Siege of Osaka. Please make a video about Sanada Maru, it'll be a blast !
Himeji is sooooo big and omggg it's brutal in a full sunny day. Thought the inside was quite bare, like it felt they were still trying to put stuff together to beef up the interior but it was cool to see armor and all the weapon racks (so many!)
I've only been to Osaka Castle yet. However, I'd like to go back to Japan to visit as many castles as possible!
I think Osaka Castle is the most magnificent, including its historical background. I was there two and a half years ago.
I've been to Nijo and Osaka castles. Very cool! Nijo felt like an old samurai movie with the nightingale floors that squeak to alert sleeping samurai of invaders. You could imagine enemies infiltrating in the night and furious samurai emerging through paper doors with swords in hand. Osaka was like a modern museum of the battle of Sekigahara, which I did not know anything about at the time. Wish I would have, but then that was the beginning of my learning.
Thank you for a nice introduction of Japanese castles. My favorite is Himeji Castle (姫路城), aka Hakuro/Shirasagi Jyou (白鷺城 Egret Castle) for its white beauty. Another one that I am fond of is Hikone Castle (彦根城), for it was the nearest to where I used to live and am familiar with.
Thank You for this content on Japanese history and building tech for this era,
a simple way to put the difference between European and Japanese Castles was European Castle design was meant to keep attackers out at all costs while Japanese Castle design didnt mind you getting in so they could trap attackers in kill zones
The more I see of Japanese design for weapons and defence the more overrated they appear. A castle should be a solid base to defend and hold land. They look flammable and weak against catapults. An archer firing from a tower has virtually no protection. There's very small stone castles and watch towers that are still in great condition today.
ROGERROCKMORE Japanese never had catapults
Your Dissapointed Daddy wrong.
@@RogerRockmore Considering how many earthquakes they faced the tradeoff for increased fire hazards vs building a complete stone castle back from scratch was hella worth it.
@divorcedme Don't forget the whole wood part. Yeah it was an increased fire hazard but if I had to repair or God for bid rebuild a stone castle from scratch thanks to an earthquake I'd rather stick to the wood. Bet you could build more too in comparison .
Though the Japanese castles had the benefit of not being dark and damp all most of the damn time compared to their European counterparts but wood it still wood masterly crafted or not soo take your pick
I also agree with you at 5:43 ;)
Just weather xddd
@@jankramolis8658 haha and Jin Sakai The Ghost Of Tsushima
@@maverickslastoddworld6476 Wake the fck up samurai... we have a mongolian camp to burn
That was fantastic how you slipped that in. Well done.
WAKE THE FUCK UP HONOURABLE GUY
WE HAVE RAIDER CAMP TO BURN
It's been more than a decade since I've been to Japan, but I still remember Osaka jo and the foundations of Sendai jo. The castle that impressed me the most was Himeji jo.
Nagoya, my wife's parents lived there when he was working for Panasonic.
Beautiful. I wish you could do a video of what these castles look like from the inside.
Fortunate to visit Japan a few years back and went to Osaka castle which was impressive and inspiring. I hope to return and see others.
your show is very satisfactory... arts in those era is promoted... thank you the shogunate... hopnefully, you manage to promote the MISSED OUT beauty and pureness and righteousness and nobleness of every person in those ancient eras...
Very interesting! Thanks for uploading! I'm all about castles!
I've been to Himeji-Jo and Nijo-Jo. Himeji is a wonder, an amazing place.
Meanwhile the Shimazu: Yeeaaa, lets not build it too flashy or the shogun might attack us.
flashy flashy castles goes into bakufu spies
Now I feel bad for not having money to travel to Japan cause it looks like the most beautiful country in the world. Easily top 5 cultures and places
Diogo Coelho - I visited for work last year. It really is a fascinating country.
@@NapoleonGelignite It truly must be i get excited just watching it in a game like Ghost of Tsushima
Mexico is also very beautiful 🤗
Yes, very beautiful and expensive place to visit. Worth a trip some day if you can.
@ Ah okay, I was there 20 years ago. My money went fast!
I have visited Himeji castle 2 years ago but on the same trip i also visited the remains(foundations) of Fukuoka castle. The way these stone foundations are build is insane!
As a member of the gaijin alumni of a decade n a half I applaud your excellance !
It is very fun to walk around a castle as if you were attacking it or defending it as a soldier.
I've always liked Japan's history. Ty my bro.
Some great pictures in this video. liked 👍
Wonderful! Great video man, super helpful and informative. Keep up the great work!
Your ghost of tsushima references shall never go unnoticed
For those able to visit, the replica of Hiroshima Castle has a very good display in the outer wall display area of the evolution of Castle types over time.
Super duper interesting, and very nicely made. Thank you!
I just love looking at all the images! Amaying video!
Hikone Castle is for sure my favourite, which supposedly is one of the few original castles that remain in Japan.
Wasn't even aware of it before visiting it, an unplanned detour, but so glad I went, saw Ii Naomasa's red armour in its museum.
European siege towers were also not used mainly as entry points. They were "sniper perches" to shoot down at the walls from exactly like the Japanese ones.
Himeji without a doubt. I was lucky enough to be there in March 2020, just one day before it was closed to the public due Covid-19
That is awesome that a peice of history actually makes a comeback instead of being slowly faded away
Very well researched I really appreciate the work that went into this.
First castle visit to Kumamoto in 2000-a reproduction(original burned in the Satsuma rebellion) but before the earthquake. Second to Nagoya and then Hiroshima(The Black Crow) in 2015--again a reproduction. Also saw a little of what's left of Fukuoka Castle wall. All very impressive.
Would like to see more. The views I remember are the 2 golden fish at the top of Nagoya and Hiroshima--entrance on regular flat land but climb to the top of the tenshu and look down, way down over the river.
I have ancestors who served Kaga han and lived in Kanazawa castle. I did not know the size of the castle but, was surprised how large it used to be. I visited Japan a number of times and saw a number of castles including Tokyo castle outer walls, Suruga castle moat, Shimadzu caste outer walls, Nijo castle and Kumamoto castle. I was amazed that these castles were so large and built for total warfare and not for someplace to live. I even met decendants of different Shogun families and different Diamyos and realized that these people really existed. I also think that living in feudal times was difficult and life was not very long.
im very much enjoying your illustrations and disclaimers, subbed
Really informative and well prepared video. Interresting were the facts about early eras in Japan, would love to see some deep dive elaboration of those eras with all the famous names of those periods, wars, weapons and armors used... Japan still remains a mystery to many of us and therefore is so interresting to hear about, learn new facts or stories, legends.
Keep up the good work on this channel, not many like it in english language.
Floating castles please. 🏯🌊
I have only visited Osaka Castle (which is somewhat an anachronical replica, but still a nice one) and Ueda Castle in Nagano prefecture, you know, the Sanada clan's castle, which is small but you get that samurai feeling. I definitely want to visit Himeji Castle, as it's recognized by many as the best samurai castle in Japan (I would say it's my favorite one); and I have curiousity about Shikoku's castles, they seem to be beautiful.
I like how these very beautiful ancient buildings have been preserved & protected for 100s of years where as European castles, alot of them anyway, were razed to the ground. We still got our incredibly awsome cathedrals
My favourite castle was Kumamoto before the earthquake, was truly beautiful
I actually lived in Hikone for about 8 months. The castle is quite beautiful.
I have not visited any so I do not have a favourite, but when I eventually travel to Japan for a holiday trip I would really like to visit one. One of the originals if possible.
Otsukaresama desu! I've got alot of pics from my trip to Japan. I went to Edo (Imperial Palace Grounds), Himeji and Osaka-jo . Lemme see about getting them uploaded somewhere I'll post a link. They may be useful if you are planning in making more castle videos.
As a karate guy, I always had a fascination with Shuri Castle. I went there with my dojo in 2006 and took some pictures. Very cool site, very vibrant and red. Unfortunately, Shuri was one of the castles that ate bomb during WWII, and so much of it had to be reconstructed.
What a cool video! Japan has got to be one of the most beautiful places on earth! I very much hope to cross the pacific some day and visit!
Kiyuso jō is my nr 1! I have been to Ōsakavand Nagoya castles to but Kiyuso has a special place in my heart.
Thank you for enlightening me
Great work! Thank you!
Nice! Very informative on a subject that I always wondered about...
I would love to see them all..
Another fantastic video bro. I'm going to edit the website to promote your channel more as soon as book of Takeda is done
Hi ! My favourite one is Himeji Castle. I've been there in 2019. I also visited Osaka castle and Nagoya castle, although its tnshu was undergoing repairs at that time. Regardless, it's magnificient. I regret not having visited hiroshima castle. I've been at Hiroshima, but I was short in time. Well, it's agood reason to return to Hiroshima at the next time I travel to Japan.
I LOVE knocking these castles down on AGE OF EMPIRES that I still play.
Greetings from Italy.
I'm not a fan I've besieged them in some historic battles in total war and I had computer issue's before I got around to defending one. I've found them difficult to rush o sneak in.
The Castles of feudal Japan are simply gorgeous. Very random side note: if ever there were a zombie apocalypse the stone foundations seen on these castles would be a great and simple way to avoid undead hordes, though perhaps labor intensive.
Definitely the most amazing one is Himeji Castle, look at 17:53 it looks like a postcard! 🏯💕
I lived in Japan and visited several castles. The only original I visited was Hikone Castle. Odawara was a beautiful castle I visited several times.
Great video! I have visited Osaka and Himeji. Very impressive indeed.
I've been to Osaka, Edo, Inuyama, Gifu, Nagoya, Toyama, Okazaki, Kiyosu, and Hamamatsu, Shimura castles.
If I recall correctly, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's rise was kick started by his taking of Gifu castle under the host of Oda Nobunaga.
I love the look of Matsumoto castle but Himeji is more impressive. So far I went to Himeji two times, Matsumoto and Kanazawa. I also visited some foundations at Takayama and Tokyo. I absolutely love to see the inside and all the woodwork.
Excellent production- chuck full of fascinating historical record- Japan is a great reckoning- a beautiful exquisite land- especially its ancient technologies.! 👁🌐🌿🌐🌿👁
I think its crazy how long it took for the Japanese to develop siege tactics. In the west, this had been common since the BC times.
I guess you just don't have to when cities were never defensible.
Very interesting. Thank you and greetings from Poland.