List of National Treasures of Japan (Castles)

The Himeji Castle is the most visited castle in Japan. It belongs to the world heritage of UNESCO .

The Sengoku period , also the time of the warring states , was an eventful period in Japanese history, which was almost uninterruptedly characterized by military conflicts. Feudal rulers ( daimyō ) such as Oda Nobunaga , Toyotomi Hideyoshi or Tokugawa Ieyasu fought each other to unite Japan. In the course of this period of time, many fortresses and castles were built due to the ongoing conflict. The archetype of a Japanese castle therefore comes from the subsequent periods, the Azuchi Momoyama (1573–1603) and the early Edo period .

A new age of castle building began when Prince Nobunaga built Azuchi Castle from 1576 to 1579 . Earlier fortifications from the Kamakura (1185–1333) and Muromachi (1336–1573) periods were simple and expansive constructions. This is not the case with Azuchi Castle, which, with its splendid decorations and a height of seven floors, became the model for castle construction at that time. This castle also represented a change in the function of castles: castles were no longer just fortresses and military garrisons, but the center of political, cultural and economic events. These new castles now served the feudal lords as residences for the entire family and the most loyal followers . These castles were built of wood and mortar on a stone foundation. In general, which was Tenshu , the Donjon or keep , built at the highest point and interlocking structures such as forecourts , ramparts and moats surrounding it. Residential buildings were usually in the outer bailey. The daimyō stayed mostly in the citadel .

In the almost 20 years between 1596 and 1615 alone, 100 important castles were built. The construction of castles peaked between 1600 and 1615. In 1600 Tokugawa Ieyasu had defeated the Toyotomi clan at the Battle of Sekigahara and completely wiped out their troops until the siege of Osaka (1615). Japan was united and the Edo period began. As a result, the Tokugawa shogunate limited the number of castles to one per province and in 1620 prohibited the construction of new castles entirely. At the time of the Meiji restoration , at the end of the 19th century, the castles were no longer used and they were neglected. As a symbol of the rulers of yesteryear, some castles were dismantled and even sold as firewood. Others have been destroyed by conflagrations, earthquakes, and cyclones. Only 12 castles still have their original keep.

Since 1897, designated “ material cultural goods ” can also be elevated to national treasures in Japan . The definition and criteria for a national treasure have changed over time. All of the castles listed here comply with the current provisions of the Cultural Property Protection Act , which has been in force since June 9, 1951. The appointment to the national treasure occurs because of the "particularly high historical or artistic value" and by the Minister of Education . The list includes four castles with eight national treasures built from the Momoyama period to the early Edo period . The number of national treasures is de facto higher because individual parts of the building are grouped together under one registration number. The list includes defense towers (donjon), (guard) towers (yagura) and connecting passages.

Key figures

Map with the national treasures of the category "Castles"

The eight national treasures are spread across four castles: Himeji Castle has five, Hikone , Inuyama and Matsumoto castles one each. The castles can be divided into three types of castles according to their location: high-altitude castles ( 山城 , yamajiro ), if they stand on a natural scenic hill, low- rise castles ( 平城 , hirajiro ) and moths ( 平山城 , hirayamajiro ), if they are on one man-made hill stand.

The donjon can be designed in two ways: in the older "Bōrōgata" ( 望楼型 ) or "Sōtōgata construction" ( 望楼型 ). In the older design, a watchtower was placed on a residential building or a residential tower. The Sōtōgata construction consists of defensive towers that, like a pagoda, had a covered hipped roof on each floor. This type of construction can be found at Matsumoto Castle, which has an almost square foundation, with the floors tapering towards the top.

The donjon was rarely free and unconnected to other parts of the building. It is usually arranged with watchtowers ( yagura ) as a composite ensemble ( 複合式天守 , Fukugōshiki Tenshu ) of a large ( 大天守 , Daitenshu ) and a small tower ( 小天守 , Kotenshu ) and sometimes through a connecting passage ( 渡櫓 , Watariyagura ) connected. If the towers are directly connected by a corridor, one speaks of ( 連結式天守 , Renketsushiki Tenshu ). A typical donjon had between three and seven externally recognizable floors. As in European construction, the number of internal storeys can differ from the number of storeys.

Legend

The columns in the table below can be sorted with the exception of the image column.

Designation : Designation of the structure according to the database for national cultural assets.
Castle : Name of the castle.
Type of construction : Type of construction with general comments including the number of floors / storeys.
Period : Period of construction, sorted by year. If no exact date is known, the year in which the period begins is given here.
Location : city, prefecture and geographic coordinates of the building, sorted by prefectural name.
Image : illustration of the structure; the relevant building structure is indicated by a blue frame.

National treasures

Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap

designation	Castle	design type	Time period	Location
Donjon ( 天守 , Tenshu )	Hikone Castle	donjon!Donjon, three floors with vaulted cellars and entrance hall. The roof is covered in the Hongawarabuki style ( 本瓦葺 ): flat, concave tiles are combined with semi-cylindrical convex tiles.	1606!Momoyama period , 1606	Shiga HikoneHikone , Shiga Prefecture 35 ° 16 ′ 35.2 ″ N , 136 ° 15 ′ 6.6 ″ E35.276447222222 136.25184444444
Extension tower ( 附櫓 , Tsukeyagura ) and Tamon tower ( 多聞櫓 , Tamonyagura )	Hikone Castle	yagura!single-storey watchtowers , Hongawarabuki roof.	1606! Momoyama period , 1606	Shiga HikoneHikone , Shiga Prefecture 35 ° 16 ′ 35.7 ″ N , 136 ° 15 ′ 6.7 ″ E35.276594444444 136.25185555556
Great Donjon ( 大天守 , Daitenshu )	Himeji Castle	donjon!Donjon, five storeys / six storeys, connected to the ni corridor to the west, to the i corridor to the north.	1608! Momoyama period , 1608	Hyogo HimejiHimeji , Hyogo Prefecture 34 ° 50 ′ 21.7 ″ N , 134 ° 41 ′ 38.7 ″ E34.83935 134.694075
Northwest small tower ( 乾小天守 , Inui Kotenshu )	Himeji Castle	donjon!Donjon with three floors, connected in the east with the ro-corridor, in the south with the ha-corridor.	1609! Momoyama period , around 1609	Hyogo HimejiHimeji , Hyogo Prefecture 34 ° 50 ′ 22.6 ″ N , 134 ° 41 ′ 37.7 ″ E34.839602777778 134.69381111111
Small western tower ( 西小天守 , Nishi kotenshu )	Himeji Castle	donjon!Donjon, three floors, connected to the ni corridor to the east and the ha corridor to the north.	1609! Momoyama period , around 1609	Hyogo HimejiHimeji , Hyogo Prefecture 34 ° 50 ′ 21.8 ″ N , 134 ° 41 ′ 37.6 ″ E34.839397222222 134.69378333333
Eastern small tower ( 東小天守 , Higashi kotenshu )	Himeji Castle	donjon!Donjon three floors, connected on the west side with the ro-corridor, in the south with the i-corridor.	1609!Momoyama period , around 1609	Hyogo HimejiHimeji , Hyogo Prefecture 34 ° 50 ′ 22.4 ″ N , 134 ° 41 ′ 39.1 ″ E34.839569444444 134.69419722222
Connecting corridors I, Ro, Ha, Ni ( イ, ロ, ハ, ニの渡櫓 , i, ro, ha, ni no watariyagura )	Himeji Castle	watariyagura! Connecting corridor, two floors. I-corridor: between the large tower and the eastern, small tower, height 9.03 m on a 8.88 m high stone wall, Ro-corridor: between the eastern, small tower and the north-western, small tower, height 9.03 m on a 8.3 m high stone wall, Ha-Gang: between the northwest, small tower and western, small tower, height 9.17 m on a 10.06 m high stone wall, Ni-Gang: between the western, small tower and the great tower, height 9.68 m with an area of 56.78 m².	1609! Momoyama period , around 1609	Hyogo HimejiHimeji , Hyogo Prefecture 34 ° 50 ′ 22.1 ″ N , 134 ° 41 ′ 38.2 ″ E34.839461111111 134.69395833333
Donjon ( 天守 , Tenshu )	Inuyama Castle	donjon!Donjon, three floors, height approx. 25 m, with single-storey watchtowers.	1601! Momoyama period , 1601	Aichi InuyamaInuyama , Aichi Prefecture 35 ° 23 ′ 18 ″ N , 136 ° 56 ′ 21 ″ E35.388333333333 136.93916666667
Donjon ( 天守 , Tenshu )	Matsumoto Castle	donjon! Donjon, five floors.	1615!Tenshu: early Edo period , early Genna era	Nagano MatsumotoMatsumoto , Nagano Prefecture 36 ° 14 ′ 19 ″ N , 137 ° 58 ′ 7.9 ″ E36.238619444444 137.96885277778
Small, northwest tower ( 乾小天守 , Inui Kotenshu )	Matsumoto Castle	donjon! Second defense tower, three floors.	1592! Momoyama period , Bunroku period (1592–1596)	Nagano MatsumotoMatsumoto , Nagano Prefecture 36 ° 14 ′ 19.7 ″ N , 137 ° 58 ′ 7.8 ″ E36.238794444444 137.96883611111
Connecting passage ( 渡櫓 , Watari yagura )	Matsumoto Castle	watariyagura! Connecting corridor, two floors.	1615!early Edo period , around early Genna era	Nagano MatsumotoMatsumoto , Nagano Prefecture 36 ° 14 ′ 19.4 ″ N , 137 ° 58 ′ 7.8 ″ E36.238727777778 137.96883333333
Southeast connecting tower ( 辰巳附櫓 , Tatsumi tsukeyagura )	Matsumoto Castle	yagura! Connection tower, two floors.	1624!early Edo period , Kan'ei era (1624–1643)	Nagano MatsumotoMatsumoto , Nagano Prefecture 36 ° 14 ′ 18.8 ″ N , 137 ° 58 ′ 8.3 ″ E36.238544444444 137.96897777778
Moon Show Tower ( 月見櫓 , Tsukimi yagura )	Matsumoto Castle	yagura! Connection tower, one floor	1624!early Edo period , Kan'ei era (1624–1643)	Nagano MatsumotoMatsumoto , Nagano Prefecture 36 ° 14 ′ 18.8 ″ N , 137 ° 58 ′ 8.6 ″ E36.238547222222 137.96906388889

literature

Jean-Sébastien Cluzel: Architecture éternelle du Japon - De l'histoire aux mythes . Editions Faton, 2008, ISBN 978-2-87844-107-9 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
William Howard Coaldrake: Architecture and authority in Japan . Routledge, 1996, ISBN 0-415-05754-X ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
William E. Deal: Handbook to life in medieval and early modern Japan . Oxford University Press, New York 2007, ISBN 0-19-533126-5 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
Kazuo Nishi, Kazuo Hozumi: What is ja architecture? Kodansha International, 1996, ISBN 4-7700-1992-0 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
Peter Dennis, Stephen Turnbull: Japanese castles 1540-1640 . Osprey Publishing, 2003, ISBN 1-84176-429-9 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).

Web links

Commons : National Treasures of Japan Castles - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files

Individual evidence

^ Cultural Properties for Future Generations. (PDF; 1.1 MB) Office for Cultural Affairs , March 2011, archived from the original on August 13, 2011 ; Retrieved January 26, 2012 .
↑ ^a ^b 国指定文化財データベース (database of national cultural assets). Office for Cultural Affairs, November 1, 2008, accessed April 16, 2009 (Japanese).
↑ bourougatatenshu. JAANUS architecture database, accessed January 26, 2011 .
↑ soutougatatenshu. JAANUS architecture database, accessed January 26, 2011 .
↑ Main Keep. Jcastle - Guide to Japanese Castles, 2011, archived from the original on December 18, 2012 ; accessed on January 26, 2011 (English).
↑ watariyagura. JAANUS architecture database, accessed January 26, 2011 .
↑ renketsu tenshu. JAANUS architecture database, accessed November 9, 2009 .
↑ 彦根城 (Hikone Castle). jcastle.info, archived from the original on February 16, 2009 ; Retrieved January 26, 2011 (Japanese).
↑ hongawarabuki. JAANUS architecture database, accessed January 26, 2011 .
↑ fukugou tenshu. JAANUS architecture database, accessed on January 28, 2011 (English).
↑ 姫路城大天守 (Great Keep of Himeji Castle). Himeji , accessed January 26, 2012 (Japanese).
↑ 姫路城乾小天守 (Northwestern, small tower of Himeji Castle). Himeji City, Retrieved January 26, 2011 (Japanese).
↑ 姫路城西小天守 (Small western tower of Himeji Castle). Himeji City, Retrieved January 25, 2011 (Japanese).
↑ 姫路城東小天守 (Himeji Castle East Small Tower). Himeji City, Retrieved November 17, 2009 (Japanese).
↑ 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 , accessed January 23, 2011 (Japanese).
↑ Inuyama Castle. Japanese National Tourism Organization, accessed January 22, 2011 .

Remarks

↑ ^a ^b ^c The structures and parts that belong to Hikone Castle are registered under one number and only as a national treasure. This national treasure is listed here in two entries for better readability.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f The structures that belong to the national treasure of Matsumoto Castle are listed as a national treasure under a registration number. For the sake of clarity, this national treasure is divided into five parts here.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e The four connecting corridors of Himeji Castle are according to the Iroha system with "I", "Ro", "Ha", "Ni", correspondingly in German with "A", "B", "C" , Labeled "D".
↑ The kitchen also belongs to this part of the national treasure.

[bunkapamphlet-1] Cultural Properties for Future Generations. (PDF; 1.1 MB) Office for Cultural Affairs , March 2011, archived from the original on August 13, 2011 ; Retrieved January 26, 2012 .

[bunkacho-2] 国指定文化財データベース (database of national cultural assets). Office for Cultural Affairs, November 1, 2008, accessed April 16, 2009 (Japanese).

[3] bourougatatenshu. JAANUS architecture database, accessed January 26, 2011 .

[4] soutougatatenshu. JAANUS architecture database, accessed January 26, 2011 .

[jcastle-donjon-5] Main Keep. Jcastle - Guide to Japanese Castles, 2011, archived from the original on December 18, 2012 ; accessed on January 26, 2011 (English).

[6] watariyagura. JAANUS architecture database, accessed January 26, 2011 .

[7] renketsu tenshu. JAANUS architecture database, accessed November 9, 2009 .

[hikone-castle-ja-10] 彦根城 (Hikone Castle). jcastle.info, archived from the original on February 16, 2009 ; Retrieved January 26, 2011 (Japanese).

[hongawarabuki-11] hongawarabuki. JAANUS architecture database, accessed January 26, 2011 .

[12] fukugou tenshu. JAANUS architecture database, accessed on January 28, 2011 (English).

[13] 姫路城大天守 (Great Keep of Himeji Castle). Himeji , accessed January 26, 2012 (Japanese).

[15] 姫路城乾小天守 (Northwestern, small tower of Himeji Castle). Himeji City, Retrieved January 26, 2011 (Japanese).

[16] 姫路城西小天守 (Small western tower of Himeji Castle). Himeji City, Retrieved January 25, 2011 (Japanese).

[17] 姫路城東小天守 (Himeji Castle East Small Tower). Himeji City, Retrieved November 17, 2009 (Japanese).

[19] 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 , accessed January 23, 2011 (Japanese).

[20] Inuyama Castle. Japanese National Tourism Organization, accessed January 22, 2011 .

[hikone-reg-8] The structures and parts that belong to Hikone Castle are registered under one number and only as a national treasure. This national treasure is listed here in two entries for better readability.

[matsumoto-reg-9] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f The structures that belong to the national treasure of Matsumoto Castle are listed as a national treasure under a registration number. For the sake of clarity, this national treasure is divided into five parts here.

[iroha-14] The four connecting corridors of Himeji Castle are according to the Iroha system with "I", "Ro", "Ha", "Ni", correspondingly in German with "A", "B", "C" , Labeled "D".

[18] The kitchen also belongs to this part of the national treasure.