Castle. The mention of the word evokes a wide range of impressions ranging from power to structure to warfare to fantasy and even to romance. Unfortunately, a great majority of people only associate the term "castle" to those built in Europe. Meanwhile, the castles of Japan have stood for centuries relatively unnoticed by the rest of the world. he aim of this site is to educate those who have no prior knowledge of these magnificent buildings, and to provide a resource for those who want to find out more.
The planning of these magnificent structures were most detailed and time-consuming. Not only did the finished buildings need to be protective for military purpose, but they needed to be artistic and grand for all to see. Though the land the castle grounds were built upon were generally given as fiefs from shoguns or other higher authority, the construction planners still found the best ways to take advantage of the geographical features the land had. These brilliant planners sought ways to make the castle the greatest in Japan and used not only the most modern methods they could, (at the time), to increase fortification, but also ancient beliefs such as garden building on the the castle grounds.
Once a castle was built in a city, its castle grounds would usually bring in many different people from other places. This increased trade that the original city might not have had. The castle town was pretty self sufficient with its own craftsmen, farmers, etc. to provide for all. Even the different classes were quite distinguishable in these castle towns. The effects of a castle being built in a city were very great and influential. The people would contribute to its building because they wanted the grandeur of their city to be shown in the magnificent project. The growing of the castle town was also profitable to the city it was located in and increased the rate of trade and population growth throughout Japan.