Himeji Castle, Treasure of Ancient Japan
Japan is a country with one of the richest cultural heritages. Being one of the rare countries in the world that have never been invaded by foreign power has played a major role in this. One aspect of Japanese culture that does tend to be left on the side is castles. Due to the country’s difficult landscape, mountain regions and unstable soil, it made the construction of fortified positions more challenging than on the continent.
However, the Japanese found a peculiar way to build their castle. Instead of being high walls surrounding a set of fortifications, Japanese castles are composed of a set of reinforced terraces. The main structure has less of a defensive purpose, relying more on its hard foundations and the layout of the courts around it for protection. But that’s enough talk about castles in general, as we are here today to discuss the most famous of them, the Himeji Castle.
It is located in the Town of Himeji (that’s why they share the same name), in the Hyogo prefecture. The first fortification built dated as far back as 1345, well before the era of the Sengoku Jidai (more on this in a future post). The Commissioner of Finance Akamatsu Sadanori constructed a small fort to fight off rival Shoguns to the Akamatsu clan. He then proceeded to demolish said opponents one by one a few years later. It seems that in feudal Japan, even the accountant can be a badass.
It is only nearly two centuries later that Himeji Castle becomes relevant again. The year is 1577, during the later years of the Sengoku Jidai when the newly appointed emperor Oda Nobunaga invaded the area, including the Himeji Castle. He appointed his friend and trusted ally Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The latter reinforced the place with over 30 turrets, greatly increasing the defensive capabilities of the castle.
However, the modern structure we all know, and can’t but love only came up almost 30 years later, in the year 1601. It is the closing days of the Sengoku Jidai. Nobunaga is long dead and Toyotomi Hideyoshi passed away recently. Of the great unifiers, only Tokugawa Ieyasu remains and immediately took over the newly reunified Japan from the Toyotomi Daimyo. This, of course, included killing everyone and after a big battle. Hideyoshi is the undisputed Shogun.
Why is this relevant to the Himeji Castle? Certainly the battle took place here? Right? Wrong! The battle took place nowhere near Himeji village. Indeed, they fought at Sekigara in the Mino Province (modern-day Gifu Prefecture). Instead, Himeji was given by Tokugawa to one of his Daimyo, Ikeda Terumasa, as a reward for his loyalty. It is at this point that Ikeda made his pet project to build the Himeji Castle we can see today. It took him 9 years. This allowed the Daimyo to cement his rule over the surrounding districts. However, the fortress was never actually attacked, a result of the reclusive peace instigated by the Tokugawa Shogunate.
