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Destinations... Japan Travel Guide The Yamasa Institute |
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Destinations... Japan Travel Guide The Yamasa Institute |
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Edited by: Declan Murphy Recommended: Suggested Itineraries Favorite Shiga moments... Best ways to get there Shiga Photogallery Newsgroups: fj.rec.travel.japan, Alt-FAQ Bulletin Boards: Fun/Clubs/Nightlife  Accommodation/Discounts
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Before Azuchi was built, castles were designed for more defensive purposes, the popular style being the yamajiro, or mountain castle. These castles were built high atop mountains to serve as a watchtower and a safe retreat for the daimyo when necessary. Because of their location, yamajiro were comparatively smaller and did not feature many of the other supporting structures Japanese castles are famous for, such as moats or turrets. They were also not suitable for the daimyo to conduct the business of administering his lands, managing his army or receiving guests, a political matter that became increasingly important during the Sengoku (Warring States) period.
Nobunaga Oda not only wanted his castle to meet these purposes, he also wanted it to be grand and visible, designed to awe and intimidate rather than defend. He chose to build his castle on the side of Azuchiyama, a low 199 meter hill, with three sides surrounded by the waters of Lake Biwa. In addition to being defendable and high enough to watch over his lands, the location allowed control of the major water and highway routes by which goods and people moved through the Kinki region.
The 46 meter high main tower had five levels containing seven stories, six above ground and one under. The gold leaf covered roof tiles and fantastically elaborate ornamentation belied the fact that the building was not so much a military fort as it was a palace. The interior walls and sliding screens were painted by the famous Kano Eitoku, and his pupils. Some represented birds and flowers and others Chinese sages of yore.
Oda Nobunaga's boldest statement of his professed status in the world was perhaps made in the octagonal fifth floor representing heaven, and the quadrangular sixth floor representing the thought of Taoism and Confucianism. This architecture was a highly religious statement of his ideas on the Way of Heaven, with himself holding the mandate of Heaven to become ruler of the world, as an integration of the religions and thought of Japan. Oda Nobunaga's fascination with western culture was also incorporated into the castle. The interior was open from the underground level to the third floor, possibly in imitation of a Western cathedral.
Azuchi Castle took three years to build, between 1576 and 1579, and sadly, existed for only another three. Oda Nobunaga died in 1582, committing seppuku after being betrayed by one of his vassals, Akechi Mitsuhide, who proceeded to occupy Azuchi and burned down the castle. Stones from the castle foundation are all that remains of the grand structure.
Opened in 1994, the Shiga Prefectural Azuchi Castle Archaeological Museum is a two-storied building constructed in a medieval European style, reflecting Oda Nobunaga's interest in Western culture. The museum features a computer animated virtual tour of the Oda Nobunaga's lost castle as well as scale models, video and stereoscopic imagery, and unearthed artifacts from as far back as the Jomon period. A hands on display of Jomon midden shell is provided outside the laboratory window, and the lab itself is a display. The museum also has a seminar room, where lectures giving detailed information on castle archaeology and excavation work that has continued since 1989 are held.
Beside the archaeological museum is the Azuchi Castle Museum and House of Nobunaga which features a full-scale reproduction of the fifth and sixth floors of Azuchi Castle that was created for Japan's display at the 1992 Sevilla Exposition in Spain.
Tours - The Japan Discovery Tours visit Azuchi Castle Ruins.
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