Japanese Castles 1540–1640 (Fortress)

the Landscape Of 16th- And 17th-century Japan Was Dominated By The Graceful And Imposing Castles Constructed By The Powerful ‘daimyo’ Of The Period. In This The Most Turbulent Era In Japanese History, These Militarily Sophisticated Structures Provided Strongholds For The Consolidation And Control Of Territory, And Inevitably They Became The Focus For Many Of The Great Sieges Of Japanese History: Nagashino (1575), Kitanosho (1583), Odawara (1590), Fushimi (1600), Osaka (1615) And Hara (1638), The Last Of The Battles That Brought An End To A Period Of Intense Civil War. This Title Traces Their Development From The Earliest Timber Stockades To The Immense Structures That Dominated The Great Centres Of Osaka And Edo. The nature of the first Japanese castles illustrates another factor that arose from Japan's isolation from continental Asia - the development of a very different tradition of defensive architecture from that of China and Korea. This title covers the entire period of Japanese castle development from the first introduction of stone walls and tower keeps in the mid-16th century, through the period of the great sieges of Japanese history.