Moats were waterways built around the castle in the shape of rings. As in Europe, the moat was often the first line of defence for a castle. The majority of Japanese castles had an inner moat uchibori and an outer moat sotobori. ( Kodansha Encyclopaedia P248) Himeji castle had three moats that needed to be crossed before one reached the centre tenshu of the castle.
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Fire was one of the biggest threats to the Japanese castle. During times of war fire spread easily, and as the inside of the castle was constructed of wood protection against it was necessary. Even with the stabilisation of political power in the late 16th century, fire was still an ever present enemy. Domestic fire was common in Japan and there was also a threat of lightning to the tenshu which rose quite high in the sky. All exposing timber was covered with a fire resistant plaster referred to as dozo-zukuri. (Hinago Japanese Castles p98) Himeji- jo was often called the 'Great White Heron' due to the white appearance that the plaster gave it.
Castles such as Okayama-jo and Matsumoto-jo used a different method to decrease the possibility of fire. They painted the timber boards with a fire proof lacquer. (Hinago p98)
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The outside gate leading to Osaka-jo.
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The gates of the castle were also a very important feature of the defence system. Gates were seen as a weak point by castle designers and it was very important that they turned them into an advantage point for defence. Himeji-jo had its largest, strongest and most imposing gate at the front of the castle. The gates that were closest to the donjon were built small and strong, so that in the case of attack only a limited amount of the enemy could enter at the one time.
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The main gate leading into
Himeji castle.
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MASUGATA
The first castle to use masugata was Azuchi-jo. Masugata was related to the positioning of the main gates. When enemies penetrated the first gate they would find themselves enclosed in a square perimeter at a right angle to the second gate. The time taken for the enemy to find out where the next gate was located allowed the defenders some time to launch an attack on the enemy. The second gate was often also provided with loopholes for attacking those caught in the square.( Kirby From Castle to Teahouse p13)
DOORS
Throughout the castle there were a great variety of gates and doors all having different purposes. The door to the right leads to the fourth tower from the 'Great Tenshu' of Himeji-jo. It has a smaller door inserted within the larger door. The double lock was used as a measure of added security. The outside of the door was covered totally with iron plating. ( Hinago Japanese Castles
p126)
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It was necessary in Japan to have a concentrated amount of protection surrounding the windows. Infiltration through the windows by ninja was common. Apart from the use of spikes, grills were also wrapped in sheets of iron to prevent them being sawn through.
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