P2+Castle+Town

 Castletowns Period 2 Sammi F. and Michael H.

Introduction Castletowns have been questioned and admired throughout the centuries in Japan. Castletowns have many purposes, some of which are protection, housing, beauty, military, and economy. This essay demonstrates how the castletowns functioned in ancient Japan. The towns grew around the castle just like in London. Castletowns play a large role in cities in Japan.

About Castletowns Castletowns concentrated on military and government revolving around it. A castle stood in the middle while it was surrounded by houses. Telling the importance of the people who lived near the castle was easy because their importance was shown by living near the castle. Artisans and merchants lived on the outside edge of the castletowns because society looked down upon them. Whoever lived close to the castle was more important than people living far away because that meant that they could possibly assist the emperor with something and could work directly for the emperor. A large boulevard led directly to the castle while other winding roads twisted through the castletowns. Castletowns were castles with buildings and houses built around them.

Protection Castletowns became a place that was very important in society in Japan because it was important to government, economics, and in invasions. Japanese castles were always well guarded and protected. The Bottleneck Trap is what the Japanese castles used for as a way of defense against enemies. When the enemies would walk through the winding pathways, the walkways would get smaller and smaller causing them to have to file though one at a time. While the invaders walked in, samurais would come out and attack them quickly. Twisting pathways were used to confuse and trap unwanted visitors. The pathways would make it seem like the person was getting closer to the castle when really it was taking them to random places. The castle is built so that invaders have a very hard time getting into the castle with many gates, trap doors, and many dead ends. Small holes were created in the walls for samurais to shoot flaming arrows and bullets from guns at intruders without the intruders knowing they were there. Behind the holes were little closet-like spaces where the samurai would stand all night and keep watch through the holes. The Nightingale Floor was meant to be used as an alarm. It sounds like a Nightingale bird chirping. Protection was very necessary to the Japanese in castletowns.

Housing Around the Castletowns there are many loyal retainers’, or tax collectors, houses. The castles housed the imperial family, all of their advisors, and people that worked with them. The castles usually had around 15 floors. One of the top rooms was for the imperial family to sleep. Rooms below were for other important people who lived there. Samurai lived very close to the castle, almost on the outer edge. The most important people lived closer to the castle.

Construction Japanese castles were built by feudal lords during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The design of the castles had barred windows, gates, trapdoors and vantage points of firing flaming arrows and guns. Daimyo’s would call commands from the highest room of a tower called a turret, a small tower usually attached to the castle. To build to the castles there were no nails used to fasten the wood together. Instead, Japanese builders cut the pieces of wood so perfectly to fit them together to hold a whole castle. The Nightingale Floors were all along the main hallway. It was made to make chirping noises when it was stepped on to be an alarm. The chirping was created by the floor boards. The floors had nails in them and the underneath the floors were hangers that the nails rubbed on and would make sound.

Happenings Inside Castletowns Castletowns were always bustling with activities. Inside of castletowns, there was a large chain of workers. Everyone worked for the emperor. Most people sold things like rice and artwork. Merchants were looked down upon because they sold things that others made, therefore they were far away from the castle. Some people set up stands on the streets to sell products.l Many shrines were inside the perimeters of the castletowns. A large shrine was inside of a castle for the imperial family to make offerings to Amaterasu, their ancestor. Castletowns were a healthy place to live and grow with all of its everyday excitement.

Conclusion Castletowns were used for many different purposes. Whether it was protection, selling goods, construction, and more, castletowns are a great part of Japan. Wherever and whenever they were, they were very important to the Japanese as well as other cultures.

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