Osprey Fortress 5 : Japanese Castles 1540-1640

The landscape of 16th- and 17th-century Japan was dominated by the graceful and imposing castles constructed by the powerful 'daimyo' of the period. In this the most turbulent era in Japanese history, these militarily sophisticated structures provided strongholds for the consolidation and control of territory, and inevitably they became the focus for many of the great sieges of Japanese history: Nagashino (1575), Kitanosho (1583), Odawara (1590), Fushimi (1600), Osaka (1615) and Hara (1638), the last of the battles that brought an end to a period of intense civil war. This book traces their development from the earliest timber stockades to the immense structures that dominated the great centres of Osaka and Edo. Text by Stephen Turnbull with illustrations by Peter Dennis.

Contents

• Introduction
• Chronology
• Design and Development
• Tour of the Sites
• The Principles of Defense
• The Living Sites
• Operational History
• Aftermath
• The Sites Today
• Bibliography and Further Reading
• Glossary
• Index