• About
  • Featured
  • Home
 
Muza-chan's Gate to Japan
12 years of travel throughout Japan
Discover Japan through the eyes of a seasoned traveler
  • A Japan photo per day
  • Travel in Japan
  • Customs & traditions
  • Japanese food
  • Japanese history
  •  Anime & otaku
  • Did you know?

Japanese castle architecture, Hidden Ishi-otoshi

Sun, August 25, 2013, by Muza-chan

Tenshu, the main donjon of the Japanese castle, was the last place of defense against the attackers, so it was designed to be a hard-to-conquer fortress. But tenshu was at the same time the symbol of the lord’s power and wealth, so the aesthetics were very important…

So, to achieve the perfect combination of utility and pleasure, some defense elements were carefully integrated in the castle’s aesthetic design. That was the case with the openings for archers (Ya-zama) or the openings used to throw stones and hot oil (Ishi-otoshi) over the attackers.

A good example of such a design is the Osaka Castle and an even more interesting case can be admired at the Matsumoto Castle: here, the Ishi-otoshi openings are almost unnoticeable, perfectly disguised by the black panels surrounding the castle’s first floor, right above the walls…

Click on photo for higher resolution:
Matsumoto Castle, Matsumoto
Matsumoto Castle, Matsumoto
If you want to license my photos for commercial use, please contact me

EXIF Info:

Nikon D90
Lens: 8-16mm F/4.5-5.6G
Focal Length: 8mm
Aperture: F/7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/250s
ISO Sensitivity: ISO 200
Shinto traditions, the Sacred Horse
Yesterday’s Japan Photo:

Shinto traditions, the Sacred Horse



  •  
     
    • # Sakura, cherry blossoms

    • # Kyoto travel

    • # Travel tips for visiting Japan

    • # Tokyo travel

    •  
    • # Modern Japanese architecture

    • # Japanese gardens

    • # The 12 surviving Japanese castles

    • # Japanese manhole covers

    •  
    • # Castles in Japan

    • # Traditional Japanese house

    • # Trains in Japan

    •  
    • # Night time photos from Japan

    • # Zen gardens

    • # The 12 surviving Japanese castles

  • Traveled areas 2007-2017
  • Creative Commons License
    Photos and text by Muza-chan are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
    If you quote or use photos from this site, you must give appropriate credit and a link to the site:
    "Based on a work at muza-chan.net"
    Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available by contacting us (privacy policy).