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Tenshu
is an architectural typology found in Japanese castle, Japanese castle complexes. They are easily identifiable as the highest tower within the castle. Common translations of ''tenshu'' include keep, main keep, or ''donjon''. ''Tenshu'' are characterized as typically timber-framed, having multiple stories, being seated on ''ishigaki'' (dry stone) foundations, and having individual floors delineated by surrounding tiled eaves. Further, ''tenshu'' are typically decorated with varying patterns of dormer gables (''chidori-hafu''), and are capped with East Asian hip-and-gable roof, hip-and-gabled roofs (''irimoya-hafu'') with ''shachihoko'' finials. Not all Japanese castles originally possessed ''tenshu'' (e.g. Aoba Castle, Sendai)'','' many well-known castles have lost their ''tenshu'' (e.g. Nijō Castle, Nijō, Edo Castle, Edo), many have had the ''tenshu'' rebuilt on multiple occasions (e.g. Nagoya Castle, Nagoya, Osaka Castle, Osaka). While both the term ''tenshu'' and the emerge ...
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Nagoya Castle
is a Japanese castle located in Nagoya, Japan. Nagoya Castle was constructed by the Owari Domain in 1612 during the Edo period on the site of an earlier castle of the Oda clan in the Sengoku period. Nagoya Castle was the heart of one of the most important castle towns in Japan, Nagoya-juku, a post station on the Minoji road linking two of the important Edo Five Routes, the Tōkaidō (road), Tōkaidō and the Nakasendō. Nagoya Castle became the core of the modern Nagoya and ownership was transferred to the city by the Imperial Household Ministry in 1930. Nagoya Castle was partially destroyed in 1945 during the bombing of Nagoya, Pacific War and the reconstruction and repair of the castle has been ongoing since 1957. ''Meijō'' (名城), another shortform way of pronouncing Nagoya Castle (名古屋城), is used for many Nagoya city institutions such as Meijō Park, the Meijō Line of the Nagoya Municipal Subway, and Meijo University, reflecting the cultural influence of this ...
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Japanese Castle
are fortresses constructed primarily of wood and stone. They evolved from the wooden stockades of earlier centuries and came into their best-known form in the 16th century. Castles in Japan were built to guard important or strategic sites, such as ports, river crossings, or crossroads, and almost always incorporated the landscape into their defenses. Though they were built to last and used more stone in their construction than most Japanese buildings, castles were still constructed primarily of wood, and many were destroyed over the years. This was especially true during the Sengoku period (1467–1603), when many of these castles were first built. However, many were rebuilt, either later in the Sengoku period, in the Edo period (1603–1867) that followed, or more recently, as national heritage sites or museums. Today there are more than one hundred castles extant, or partially extant, in Japan; it is estimated that once there were five thousand. Some castles, such as the ones a ...
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Osaka Castle
is a Japanese castle in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan. The castle is one of Japan's most famous landmarks and played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century of the Azuchi–Momoyama period. Layout The inner keep of Osaka Castle is situated on a plot of land roughly one square kilometre. It is built on two raised platforms of landfill supported by sheer walls of cut rock, using a technique called burdock piling, each overlooking a moat. The keep is five stories on the outside and eight stories on the inside and built atop a tall stone foundation to protect its occupants from attackers. The main keep is surrounded by a series of moats and defensive fortifications. The castle has two moats (an inner and an outer one). The inner castle moat lies within the castle grounds and consists of two types: wet (northern-easterly) and dry (south-westerly). The outer moat meanwhile surrounds the entire castle premise, denotes the castle's outer limi ...
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Azuchi Castle
was one of the primary Castles in Japan, castles of Oda Nobunaga located in the Azuchi, Shiga, Azuchi neighborhood of the city of Ōmihachiman, Shiga Prefecture. The site of the castle was designated a Monuments of Japan, National Historic Site in 1926, with the designation upgraded to that of a Special National Historic Site in 1952. The castle is located within the grounds of the Biwako Quasi-National Park. Azuchi Castle was built from 1576 to 1579 on Mount Azuchi on the eastern shore of Lake Biwa in Ōmi Province. Nobunaga intentionally built Azuchi Castle close enough to Kyoto that he could watch over and guard the approaches to the capital, but outside Kyoto so his fortress would be immune to the fires and conflicts that occasionally consumed the city. Azuchi Castle's location was also strategically advantageous in managing the communications and transportation routes between Nobunaga's greatest foes – the Uesugi clan, Uesugi to the north, the Takeda clan, Takeda in the eas ...
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Edo Castle
is a flatland castle that was built in 1457 by Ōta Dōkan in Edo, Toshima District, Musashi Province. In modern times it is part of the Tokyo Imperial Palace in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is therefore also known as . Tokugawa Ieyasu established the Tokugawa shogunate there, and it was the residence of the ''shōgun'' and the headquarters of the military government during the Edo period (1603–1867) in Japanese history. After the resignation of the ''shōgun'' and the Meiji Restoration, it became the Tokyo Imperial Palace. Some moats, walls and ramparts of the castle survive to this day. However, the grounds were more extensive during the Edo period, with Tokyo Station and the Marunouchi section of the city lying within the outermost moat. It also encompassed Kitanomaru Park, the Nippon Budokan Hall and other current landmarks of the surrounding area. History The warrior Edo Shigetsugu built his residence in what is now the ''Honmaru'' and ''Ninomaru'' part of Edo Castle, a ...
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Nijō Castle
is a flatland Japanese castle, castle in Kyoto, Japan. The castle consists of two concentric rings (Kuruwa) of fortifications, the Ninomaru Palace, the ruins of the Honmaru Palace, various support buildings and several gardens. The surface area of the castle is , of which is occupied by buildings. It is one of the seventeen Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto which have been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. History In 1601, Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate, ordered all the Daimyō, feudal lords in western Japan to contribute to the construction of Nijō Castle, which was completed during the reign of his grandson Tokugawa Iemitsu in 1626. While the castle was being built, a portion of land from the partially abandoned Shinsenen Garden (originally part of the imperial palace and located south) was absorbed, and its abundant water was used in the castle gardens and ponds. Parts of Fushimi Castle, such as the main tower and the ''karamon'', w ...
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Kitanosho Castle
was a ''hirashiro'' (castle located on flatland). Its remains are located in current-day Fukui, Fukui Prefecture, Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea .... As the castle lasted merely eight years, few records survive about it. It is known, though that it was built by Shibata Katsuie in 1575. Also, it appears that the ''tenshu'' (keep) was nine stories high, making it the largest of the time. The castle was destroyed by fire in 1583, after Katsuie killed his wife, Oichi, and then committed seppuku, following defeat in the Battle of Shizugatake against Toyotomi Hideyoshi. A few stone foundations of the castle were uncovered in archaeological digs and are now open to the public.
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Nagahama Castle
is a ''hirashiro'' (castle on a plain) located in Nagahama, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. History Nagahama Castle was built in 1575-1576 by Hashiba Hideyoshi (later known as Toyotomi Hideyoshi) in the village then called Imahama, renaming the area Nagahama. Previously, he had ruled from Odani Castle, though found this hard to do as it was a ''yamashiro'' (mountaintop castle). Hideyoshi was succeeded as lord by Yamanouchi Kazutoyo after the 1583 Battle of Shizugatake. Kazutoyo was then replaced by Naito Nobunari after the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. In 1615, the castle was demolished, though parts of it were used in the construction of Hikone Castle is an Edo-period Japanese castle located in the city of Hikone, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. It is considered the most significant historical site in Shiga. The site has been protected as a National Historic Site since 1951. Hikone is one of only .... Today Nagahama Castle is now a park. Most of the castle lies in ruins, but the '' ...
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Aoba Castle
260px, Layout of Aoba Castle is a Japanese castle located in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. Throughout the Edo period, Aoba Castle was home to the Date clan, ''daimyō'' of Sendai Domain. The castle was also known as or as . In 2003, the castle ruins were designated a National Historic Site. Design Aoba Castle is located on a plateau overlooking the city of Sendai, on the opposing bank of the Hirose river. The site is protected by cliffs to the south and east and by a forest to the west. This forest was strictly guarded in the Edo period and is a rare survivor of the original virgin forests of Honshū. The area is now managed as a botanical garden by Tohoku University. The castle hill is partially surrounded by the Hirose river to the north and east, and a steep slope protects the south. The ''honmaru'' (inner bailey) is about 115 meters high and is a roughly square-shaped area 250 meters long surrounded by stone walls, in some places 15 meters high. It contained the founda ...
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Gifu Castle
is a Japanese castle located in the city of Gifu, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. Along with Mount Kinka and the Nagara River, it is one of the main symbols of the city. The castle is also known as . It was designated a National Historic Site in 2011. Overview Gifu Castle is located on Mount Kinkazan to the northeast of central Gifu, facing the Nagara River. Prior to a severe flood in 1586, the Kiso River ran through north of its current riverbed and was much closer to the castle, so Gifu Castle was protected by two large rivers. It also commanded the main route into Mino Province from then Tōkaidō highway which connected Kyoto with the eastern provinces of Japan. History The first Gifu Castle was first built by the Nikaidō clan between 1201 and 1204 during the Kamakura period.Gifu Castle Official Page
. Gifu City Ha ...
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Ashikaga Yoshiaki
"Ashikaga Yoshiaki" in '' The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 625. was the 15th and final ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate in Japan who reigned from 1568 to 1573 when he staged a revolt and was overthrown.Ackroyd, Joyce. (1982) ''Lessons from History: The Tokushi Yoron'', p. 332. His father, Ashikaga Yoshiharu, was the twelfth ''shōgun'', and his brother, Ashikaga Yoshiteru, was the thirteenth ''shōgun''. Biography Ashikaga Yoshiaki was born to Ashikaga Yoshiharu on 5 December 1537. He entered Kofuku-ji temple as a monk, but when his older brother Yoshiteru was killed by the Miyoshi clan, he returned to secular life and took the name "Yoshiaki". At the time, the Ashikaga shogunate had been severely weakened; its authority was largely ignored across Japan. Regardless, various factions still fought to control the central government, as it still held some prestige despite its diminished status. Ashikag ...
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Tenshō (Momoyama Period)
was a after ''Genki (era), Genki'' and before ''Bunroku''. This period spanned the years from July 1573 through December 1592 during the Sengoku era.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tenshō''" i ''Japan encyclopedia'', p. 961 n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, ''see'Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File. The reigning emperors were and . Change of era * 1573 : The new era name was created to mark a number of regional wars. The era name was inspired by a passage from the Chinese classic ''Tao Te Ching by'' Laozi: :"Those who are at peace with nature bring all under Heaven into its correct pattern" (清静者為天下正). The era name ''Tenshō'' was suggested by Oda Nobunaga. The previous era ended, and a new one commenced in ''Genki'' 4, the 28th day of the 7th month. Events of the ''Tenshō'' era European dates up to October 4, 1582 are given in the Julian calendar. Dates since October 15, 1582 are given in the Gregorian calendar. ...
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