The discussion on warrior Japan dispelled many ideas and thoughts I had had about samurai and Japanese warriors. In movies and shows you always picture samurai as these dominant warriors that ruled and controlled everything. Another part of the discussion that was surprising to me was the talk of castles. When you think of castles, you do not think of ancient Japan. You think of Europe. I’ve been to castles in Ireland. I did not know they existed in Japan or that their ruins were still around to see and tour.
There were two types of castles. The first kind of castles that appeared were mountain castles. Mountain castles began to show up so that the soldiers and people of higher rank had a place to be protected. A safe haven. They could fight their battles elsewhere and then return to the safety of their castles. They would be located at the top of the mountains and contain about 20 acres.. They would be well fortified and protected. The vantage point would be good, because they could see far and know what was coming.
The second kind of castle was the flatland castles. These came after the mountaintop castles. They were much bigger, 40 to 60 acres of land. They would be located on the flatland. They would also be fortified with at least one moat, usually two. They would located closer to economic centers, roads and waterways. This location made it easier for them to conduct business and yet still protect their interests. After hearing this discussion and seeing the pictures of the castles, I now have added this to my bucket list of things to do when I get to go to Japan!
edited by cgao on 5/6/2016
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