One of the main defensive structures used in a Japanese castle was masugata, a combination of two gates and a rectangular, walled space. The enemy army, after conquering the first gate, was forced to pass through a narrow passage, where it was attacked from the upper floors of the gates and eventually from a nearby yagura turret.

At the Shiroishi castle the masugata was made with two elements, a narrowing corridor coming from the first gate and the rectangular area photographed here in front of the castle’s second gate.

Shiroishi Castle, Shiroishi, Miyagi

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Yesterday’s Japan Photo: Sakata Shishi-gashira