Japanese Castles

A Brief History of Castles

The first castles that were built date back to more than 1400 years ago in the north of Kyushu and the eastern districts of Japan and would then be continued to be built until about the 17th century. In Japan there are two different races, the Yamato race and the Ainu race. The Ainu lived in the north and north-eastern districts and the Yamato lived in the other districts. Back in those days most of the battles in Japan were between the two races, and this caused castles to be built on the borders of their land. However, at the same time in North Kyushu there were some battles going on with other countries as well at the time.

To begin with Japanese castles were more like fortresses that were built to protect their land from enemy attack or to provide safe military bases for invading soldiers.

The first castle in Japan was named Azuchi Castle and it was constructed in the style of the modern times and was built by order of Nobunaga Oda who wa...