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Japanese castles are an extremely important part of the country's history in architecture. These castles were constructed all over Japan for feudal lords called Daimyo. Castles served as a place for Daimyo to retreat after a battle or as a storage place for food and weapons. During these times, Daimyo also used the castles as a symbol of their wealth and power. Early castles during the Sennoku Period were built on high mountains that were extremely inaccessible. High places allowed forts to be watchtowers to look for enemies. Other forms of protection included earthen walls, yagura or weapon storehouses, and strategically placed zigzagging gates. Like castles in Europe, Japanese castles were surrounded by moats. These ditches filled with murky water made it nearly impossible for enemies to scale the castle's walls.
The architectural design shifted in later years to accommodate changes in government and larger armies. Bases for castles moved from the mountains to hills on flatlands. The hill still allowed the castle to act as a watchtower, but now the Daimyo could create larger and taller fortresses. Azuchi Castle, constructed in 1579, was the first castle of this type. Additional castles in this style were created rapidly until the Tokugawa regime in the Edo Period. The government of this period demanded that each province could have only one castle. As a result many castles of historic importance were torn down. Other castles were destroyed due to fires, earthquakes, and World War II. Today only 12 of the original castles exist including Matsumoto-jo and Hikone-jo. But post World War II Japan has begun reconstruction and restoration of the old castles in a effort to recapture this important part of their architectural history.
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