European Castles In Japanese Culture

Castles were one of the crucial to both European and Japanese culture, not only protecting but also serving as a sign of power. Castles were first seen in 1066 when William the Conqueror invades England from France. Since the English people greatly outnumbered the French, he ordered the construction of the first castles, called motte and bailey castles. From there castles evolved with the times as new weapons were invented. They served both as home for lords as well as a stronghold. Having a grand castle had was good in many ways. First of all, it made it nearly impossible to take over for two reasons; it was easy to defend and it scared people away from attacking. Also, it showed power and wealth to show the prestige of the owner. If necessary

Both castles have similar base designs, but end up with a different product. In Europe the earliest castle were hills with wooden walls built around them and a single tower at the top of the hill. It included a courtyard which was called a bailey, and the motte was the tower in which you defended, hence the name motte-bailey castle. In Japan castles were built beginning in the Yamato period, Although, it wasn’t until the 14th century when castles started to have features that people commonly associate with castles. Soon after motte and bailey castles were brought to England the castles evolved into stone structures. The 12th through 13th century saw a huge uptick in stone castles, which lead castles to be commonplace in England. According to Castellarium Anglicanum, which is a book that documents all castles in the Uk, there are 1,500 castle sites in England alone. Unlike the first castles, these castles were away from the town and in more strategic defence positions. Japanese and European castles share main structures, one of those is the keep, it was in the middle of the castle and was the main storehouse as well as the last resort tower. It was the biggest tower and the thickest walls, and was designed as a multifunction base. All castles have walls, they are the crucial first line of defence that have the role of keeping the invaders out as well as anything they might decide to throw. To fulfill this criteria the walls were often 30 feet high and up to 20 feet thick. (Hackett) On top of the walls there were walkways where archers could shoot down on the invaders. Along with the walkways there were towers every 200 to 300 feet.(Hackett). The difference between European and Japanese castles are the way the look and the materials they are made out of. European castles are made out of primarily stone, on the other hand, Japanese castles only have a stone