Japanese castle types, Hirayamajiro

Considering the type of land on which they were built, the third type of Japanese castle, hirayamajiro (hirayama means "flatland-mountain"), combines some of the advantages presented by the other two, yamajiro ("mountain castles") and hirajiro ("flatland castles"). Similar to the yamajiro, the main tower was built on top of a hill, thus being easier to defend. And similar to the hirajiro castles, the main tower was also surrounded with defensive walls, moats and yagura towers.

In today's photo you can see Maruoka-jō, a hirayamajiro castle, with the stairs covered by sakura trees in full bloom, photographed just before a torrential rain...