Read Online Samurai and Ninja: The Real Story Behind the Japanese Warrior Myth That Shatters the Bushido Mystique by Antony Cummins - Free Book Online

the Edo Period, the shogun had the mountain and outlying castles destroyed. He forced all samurai to leave their ancestral fortified manor houses and move into castle towns—most of which were flatland castles. He removed any natural advantage of position, leaving us with the image of the grand castle with whitewashed walls in the center of major cities. This was not the norm in the warring periods. In the Warring States Period, castles would have been smaller than we know them now, and fortified houses and monasteries would have been bigger than the ones visited by tourists today.

    The Areas and Fortifications of the Castle
    The following is a short description of the major parts of a castle and their functions. While castle technology and the story of the Japanese castle stretches way beyond this description, the basics can be found here, providing an understanding and sense of Japanese fortresses.
    天守
    The Tenshu
    The tenshu is the main keep of the castle, the fortified tower at the center.
    本丸
    The Honmaru
    The honmaru is the primary enclosure, which surrounds the Tenshukaku keep; sometimes the main tower can also be described as a Honmaru.
    二の丸
    The Nimaru
    The nimaru is the secondary enclosure, which makes a second outer ring in the castle.
    三の丸
    The Sanmaru
    The sanmaru is the third enclosure, which surrounds the castle; this can be the final wall, but castles with more enclosures did exist.
    大手門
    The Otemon
    The otemon is the main gate of a castle; it is considered the primary entrance and exit.
    鐘楼
    The Shoro
    The shoro is a bell tower.
    矢倉
    The Yagura
    A yagura is a form of turret or building on top of a castle wall. The wall normally consists of a stone foundation and then a plaster and wooden wall on top of this foundation. On the top of this wall is a room-like building from which troops can shoot—this is the yagura turret. Shinobi manuals often talk about fire-setting skills that bring about the destruction of yagura turret houses.
    石落
    Ishiotoshi
    An ishiotoshi is a section or hole where stones and rocks can be dropped. As enemy troops climb up the outside of the walls, debris is dropped on them from these relatively small areas.
    逆茂木
    Sakamogi
    Sakamogi are thorny branches and spiky sections that are positioned to keep invaders from attempting to infiltrate.
    忍返
    Shinobi-gaeshi
    These are more permanent spikes that are erected along the edges of walls. They are there to keep shinobi from climbing over. However, the shinobi have various ways to deal with this issue—for example, the Bansenshukai shinobi manual says that they should be hooked with rope and ripped down.

    堀
    The Hori
    The hori is the moat that surrounds the castle. Shinobi would have to measure these and wade their way across them in the dark.
    馬出
    The Umadashi
    The umadashi is a fortified exit. Walls are positioned outside of the exit so that a direct charge cannot be made against it. These can be “horseshoe” shaped walls just outside of the outlet.
    縄張
    The Nawabari
    The term nawabari means the overall layout of the castle, the ground plan or the birds-eye view. The term originated from stretching rope ( nawa ) used to map out the ground of a castle site.
    The Japanese castle was a complex system of defense with its own kill zones and tricks to keep enemies out. In this new image of the samurai that is being built as you read, the castle must start to be seen as a complex part of samurai warfare—similar to the complexities of its Western counterpart. And of course, if there are castles, there must be sieges.
    Siege Warfare
    Japanese castles were adapted to siege warfare. Again the similarities between Western and Eastern warfare are evident and the sophistication of Japanese siege-craft is obvious.
    If a samurai is on the defending force, the following items are things he would be familiar with as he moved in and around the castle.
    Arrow and Gun Ports
    Inset into the walls of