The Anōshū (

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

: 穴太衆) or the Anō groups were the

stonemasonry Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using rock (geology), stone as the primary material. Stonemasonry is the craft of shaping and arranging stones, often together with Mortar (masonry), mortar ...

engineers that were active in the Azuchi-Momoyama and early Edo periods, of the late 16th to the 17th centuries in Japan. They were mainly engaged in building the

stone walls Stone walls are a kind of masonry construction that has been used for thousands of years. The first stone walls were constructed by farmers and primitive people by piling loose field stones into a dry stone wall. Later, mortar and plaste ...

and

moats A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water de ...

of the temples and castles, that can be still observed today in Japan. They were from Anō, a village in Sakamoto ( 坂本),

Ōmi Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan, which today comprises Shiga Prefecture. It was one of the provinces that made up the Tōsandō Circuit (subnational entity), circuit. Its nickname is . Under the ''Engishiki'' classification system, ...

, now included in the city of

Ōtsu 270px, Ōtsu City Hall is the capital city of Shiga Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 343,991 in 153,458 households and a population density of 740 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . History Ōtsu is ...

, just east of

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

. The Anōshū apparently gained their stonemasonry experience by working on the stone walls of the

Enryaku-ji is a Tendai monastery located on Mount Hiei in Ōtsu, overlooking Kyoto. It was first founded in 788 during the early Heian period (794–1185) by Saichō (767–822), also known as Dengyō Daishi, who introduced the Tendai sect of Mahayana ...

Buddhist Temple nearby, and

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. He was the and regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. He is sometimes referred as the "Demon Daimyō" and "Demo ...

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 i ...

, built from 1576 to 1579, as one of the first large-scale castles in Japan. Two clans were prominently recognized among the Ano groups. The Goto Clan (後藤家), which originated from Goto Mootsugu ( :ja:後藤基次), was involved in building

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 Th ...

and

Kanazawa Castle is a large, partially restored Japanese castle in Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan. It is located adjacent to the celebrated Kenroku-en Garden, which once formed the castle's private outer garden. It was the headquarters of Kaga Domain, ruled by the Ma ...

Kaga Domain The , also known as the , was a domain of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1583 to 1871.Ishikawa Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu island. Ishikawa Prefecture has a population of 1,096,721 (1 January 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,186 Square kilometre, km2 (1,616 sq mi). Ishikawa Pr ...

. The Awata Clan (粟田家), established in early

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

with Awaya Kichibei (阿波屋喜兵衛) as its founder, has worked on the maintenance of the Enryaku-ji,

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 ...

and other prominent castles, was incorporated as Awata Construction in 1964. It has recently expanded its business overseas, such as in the stone walls that surround

Rolex Rolex () is a Swiss watch brand and manufacturer based in Geneva, Switzerland. Founded in 1905 as ''Wilsdorf and Davis'' by German businessman Hans Wilsdorf and his eventual brother-in-law Alfred Davis in London, the company registered ''Rolex ...

Customer Center in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

.Dallas Rolex Tower (2018)
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References

External links

Stone walls in Sakamoto, Otsu, Shiga (石積みの町坂本 : The stone walls constructed by Ano-shu （Shiga, Japan）(YouTube)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anoshu Japanese stonemasons Castles in Japan

See also

References

External links