Samurai Castles: Evolution and Overview
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- čas přidán 13. 08. 2020
- 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.com/theshogunatey...
#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
Fun fact about Himeji: It has never been through a siege but historians believe its defenses are effective due to the sheer amount of tourists that get lost on a yearly basis regardless of clearly marked routes
It survived for only one reason. The Tokugawa did not consider some of these castles as important strategically. So, the Tokugawa did not order them destroyed. Most, however, were destroyed.
It was obviously because people were too afraid of Lady Osakabe.
@@asagoldsmith3328 Who???
@@angieroxy7550 Osakabehime, the yokai who lives in himeji castle
@@elgatto3133
She is said to live on the top floor of Himeji Castle.
Another fun fact: The top floor of Himeji Castle was destroyed in a WW II air raid by the US Air Force, but luckily it was a dud.
If it had exploded, it is expected that Himeji Castle would not have existed in this world or a concrete replica would have been built.
I am Japanese, I was surprised at the completeness of this video. This video contains a little technical content besides what we learn at school.
Hey can I ask you a question about Japan?
I’m also Japanese & I wonder what crap school you went too.
@@rememberthatyoumustdie I’m not Japanese decent in the normal fashion, but born and raised yes.
Complete? Lol !
@@william9922I didn't think an astute Japanese person would allow their diction to be as "Incomplete" as that. Love the call out. It's very rare you ever learn anything from an American accent made documentary. I have switched of at 3 mins.
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.
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.
One of the more interesting details of the old castles to me is that they weren't built with nails. Iron ore was harder to get on the island so metal was used for more important items like weapons. houses and castles were put together like jigsaw puzzles, this piece fitting seamlessly into that piece, and using wooden dowels to anchor them together
You need to go to more castles.
Its also why Japanese buildings last forever, they have temples built a thousand years ago still standing till this day. It makes replacing damaged or broken parts very easy as you can slide them out without major deconstruction and replace them.
these free floating joints also allowed for more movement during earthquakes
Termites.......
@@Thebonesoftrees well actually better than dying under stone castles during earthquake 🙄
also those woods are usually cured before being put on use.
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*
“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 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.
I love Matsumoto castle, and at night when they light it, it's quite beautiful
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.
My favorite is Matsumoto. Stunning location and background scenery.
5:44 And jin Sakai...
Indeed!
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?
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 wondered about these since I was a kid playing Age of Empires 2. There was such a huge contrast in the visuals between the Eastern and Western civilization castles and while the practicality of the architecture of the European castles was obvious, it wasn’t as clear for their asian counterparts, though in game they functioned the same and used the same resources to construct. Thanks for shedding light on this!
In my opinion, Japanese castles were luxury residences that were also reinforced to weather the storm of war.
European castles were more like bunkers of the time that also offered rudimentary living quarters.
Since Japan is prone to earthquake, it's quite impossible to make stone castles safely.
Video Hasn't started and already happy
Wait that’s illegal
@@Jebbson13 only if you get caught.
I have a whole new appreciation for Ashina Castle from Sekiro. They really made it look like a perfect yamajiro
Oh yes! I was drawinging a japanese castle for a background ans was thinking of this XX
🇲🇳⚔🇵🇹🇨🇳
I've been to 3 Japanese castle complexes and my favorite is Himeji-jo. I would love to see the inside of the Imperial Castle (originally Edo Castle of the Tokugawa's) but since it is a imperial residence I don't think a commoner gaijin like me will ever be allowed.
What a lovingly produced and generous video-was so happy to see it in my notifications
I love the diversity of your content, well done
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!
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.
A wonderful and informative video on castles of Japan! Thank you and keep the videos coming!!
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
Himeji Castle has always been in my bucket list.
I am a castle fanatic and have always found the Samurai Castles particularly fascinating.
I loved the video and would love to see more.
So interesting! I LOVE the way the castles were designed and their unique architecture!! Snow capped in winter is a beautiful scene
One of my favourites was Matsuyama Castle. Awesome views and an all round cool place.
Fascinating... thanks for sharing!
5:40
" And Jin Sakai "
ah, a *man of culture*
Thank you for this informative documentary on the Japanese feudal castles. I really enjoy Japanese history and cultural history docs. Please keep them coming.😊
Good to see more and more well researched videos on CZcams.
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.
Amazing vídeo thank you for sharing.
Fascinating - Thank you ❤
Super duper interesting, and very nicely made. Thank you!
Great work! Thank you!
Can I just say - I’m studying Japanese studies and I have my bachelor oral exam next Monday on Japanese history (we get to pick 3 eras that we’ll be tested on - one of those I picked is the Sengoku period and the unification of Japan) and you’re Videos are THE BEST I have seen on CZcams ! So entertaining and just lovely ! You’re really making my time studying so much more enjoyable and I really want to say thank you so so much and keep up the fantastic work ! ❤
These videos are so good! The paintings are so cool, and you learn so much!
I just love looking at all the images! Amaying video!
Very well researched I really appreciate the work that went into this.
Great Video! Thank you for making it.
I remember visiting a castle in Osaka when I was 8 years old. It was beautiful but had the world's steepest staircases.
These buildings just beautifully compliment the natural scenery !
Very interesting! Thanks for uploading! I'm all about castles!
Wonderful! Great video man, super helpful and informative. Keep up the great work!
Took a road trip to Himeji Castle last weekend. Absolutely beautiful.
Very nice summary, thank you!!
thank you for sharing
Perfect and beautifull documentary! Bravo!
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.
Thank you for enlightening me
Very educational. Thank you for this.
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.
Nice! Very informative on a subject that I always wondered about...
Wow and Thank You, It makes you rethink about world history.
I had the pleasure to be at one of them. During a business trip my Japanese colleagues took me to Aizu-Wakamatsu. I also could see a sword exhibition in the Fukushima prefecture museum - beautiful blades.
Some great pictures in this video. liked 👍
Matsumoto castle was hands down the most impressive for me.
Far smaller than Himeji but with a special Charme.
I think of the balcony build to admire the moon at night.
Romantic tendencies in a Japanese castle like at my hometown castle Lichtenstein that was build because of the inspiration of a romantic novel.
My heart felt also warm when I saw the rebuilding efforts at Kumamoto castle after the earthquake years ago.
I just respect the Japanese will to preserve history.
Thank You for this content on Japanese history and building tech for this era,
I would like to see all of them! They are a great legacy to a fascinating people. Thanks for this.UK.
so informative. Thank you!
Great work! Love the content!
Adding from below, a symbol of war is now appreciated for it's craft, it's sublime presence a majestic expression of peaceful Japan. Thank you so much for this insightful video.
Excellent production
Excellent & informative video.
Fantastic video ; Love it
Your research is remarkable ....Hats off
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 👍
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.
what a good research! i was always searching about the origin of Japanese castles, but i didn't find it . Thank you for this awesome video!
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!
This video sparked an interest in Japanese history for me.
Awesome video 10/10!🙂👍
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.
this video was really cool, keep up the good work!
Awesome videos very informative
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.
Brilliant, amusing information with superp delivery.
Congratulations. Good luck in future projects.,
im very much enjoying your illustrations and disclaimers, subbed
It's sad to think about all the castles lost. Such beautiful architecture.
I’ve only visited Himeji-jo and that was before its recent rebuilding. I’ll never forget it - what an amazing construction.
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.👍
Brother, if you ever decide to make a secondary channel, you gotta do one about Mongolian history and call it "The Khanate." I've always been fascinated with the Mongol warriors of the steppes, and I'd love to hear more about their horsemanship, what kind of warriors they were, and how Genghis was able to consolidate the vast empire that he did💪🏽
Damn you, you sneaky Mongowian!
Knew virtually nothing about these structures besides how they looked. That was extremely concise and informative thank you. Definitely plan on visiting one of the original castles when I travel to Japan now
Excellent and entertaining video! I actually proposed to my wife on the red bridge of Matsumoto Castle seen at 20:17. In addition to being a beautiful and memorable location, the site had special significance to us because my wife's ancestor had been a samurai physician at the castle back in its heyday. It has always been one of my favorite castles since it's one of the few originals remaining tenshu, and now we have an additional reason to go back and visit.
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!
Awesome video, I have just undercoated a model and was wanting to get it painted.
Very informative vid!
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
This is the best yt channel about samurai history
Beautiful. I wish you could do a video of what these castles look like from the inside.
Great video.
Great video! I have visited Osaka and Himeji. Very impressive indeed.
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.
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!
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.
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...