P2+Moore+Castletowns

Castletowns By Emma C and Ben L

**INTRODUCTION** Castletowns were towns that many people lived in at the Age of the Samurai. In these towns were castles, and the towns would grow around these castles. These castles were very important to Japanese culture. In Japanese culture, there was a strict social structure called the Bakufu, which was followed in castletowns as well as everywhere else. The Bakufu has Samurai near the top of the Social Structure, while Merchants were located closer to the bottom. The Bakufu really changed the way people in castletowns live. One interesting fact about the castle was that the castles had their own layout inside and outside. Inside, there was not much furniture. The only furniture that was usually visible is low wooden tables or desks, an arm rest, a lamp stand, and a sword rack. Also inside the castle were the bedrooms. They didn’t have any beds. Bedding would be kept in cupboards and would only be brought out for sleeping. They slept on tatami mats. Another room is the castle is the kitchen. What’s interesting about that is that the kitchen is outside of the building and separate from the living rooms, bedrooms, and all of that. Their food would be prepared over a number of ranges and carried into the living quarters on trays. The ceilings throughout the castle were carved and painted with beautiful designs. Along with all that, there were wonderful gardens and pools. Today, in our house, we would also have heat in the winter when it gets cold. There was no heating in the castle other than a box of warm charcoal or a fire just open in the middle of the room. That’s still better than many others in Japan had.
 * LAYOUT OF CASTLES**

The castles had many defenses. These defenses protected them from enemies and people who wanted to break into the castle. It was basically like a maze trying to get in where they would have to break through many things and it was miles long. Once they finally got to the end, they would realize that they were farther from the castle now, than when they started even though at some points in the maze the castle seemed do close. If someone trying to break in was actually successful, they would be disappointed to find out that the castle was also surrounded by water-filled moats. The building and grounds had many huge stone walls that basically surrounded the castle. The walls had slits that allowed defenders to shoot guns and arrows out. There were also charming balconies that were used as shooting platforms. Moving in to the castle, the doors had iron locks and bolts. Along with that, the windows were barred. The castle fit in defenses pretty much anywhere they could. Even bathrooms were heavily guarded. This was because toilet facilities were the only place where an assassin might hope to encounter a daimyo that would be alone and not protected. This all shows that the defenses definitely help keep everyone in the castle defended and it is extremely serious.
 * CASTLE DEFENSES**

Castletowns were towns that grew around the gigantic castles (shown in the paragraphs above) that served for economic, political, commercial, and more purposes. These castletowns trace their origin to the Muromachi period. The castles and castletowns got more elaborate during the Warring States period. With the rise of commerce around castles, merchants, artisans and peasants started taking up residence around the castle. As a result, castles became castletowns. The castletowns also served as important military bases. Because of these reasons, many people lived in castletowns. The main buildings in castletowns were castles, houses, kabuki theaters, and more. Samurai were near the top of the Bakufu, meaning that they were among the most respected in Japanese culture. Samurai, however, have to work very hard. They weren’t home a lot, as during periods of war samurai would follow their lord into battles. Even when there weren’t battles going on, samurai worked hard, serving their daimyo in town or in the castle. After a long day of work, a samurai may relax in a bathhouse or drink sake with friends. Although it was improper to do so, some samurai even went to Kabuki Theater. Daimyos were masters of groups of multiple samurai. Depending on rank of samurai, their houses are located in different places. While the most important samurai lived near the castle, lower ranked samurai lived further away from the castles. A samurai’s house was made of wood, with sloping roofs. These roofs were covered with thatch, tiles, or shingles. The floors in the home were raised off the ground so that the house would stay dry during the rainy season.
 * HISTORY OF CASTLETOWNS**
 * SAMURAI IN CASTLETOWNS**

There were many people that lived in the castletown, but not in the castle itself. Merchants were some of the wealthiest in the castletowns. Even with their wealth, they were one of the lowest classes. Merchants were some of the first to inhibit the castletowns. And other people who lived in the castletowns were the artisans. They were also some of the first to inhabit castletowns. The artisans often bow down toward the castle and because of their low class, they bow all the way down to the ground. Other people such as merchants would probably only bow down half way because their social standard is a bit higher. What’s also really interesting is that people who lived and worked in the castletowns were still very connected to everyone living in the castle. The carpenters, sawyers, and roofers all did what their job was to help people in and around the castle. Along with them were also the swordsmiths and armorsmiths. The made swords and armor which was sold to the people in need of it in the castle. Since many people are buying and selling things, this helps the economy in Japan a lot.
 * ARTISANS, MERCHANTS, ETC. IN CASTLETOWNS**

This all shows that having castletowns and castles are important and is where many important people are such as the shogun and the daimyo and also many other people besides like the artisans and merchants. There were many people in the castletown who all had their own job. This connected everyone in the castletown and even made the economy better with everyone buying and selling things in and around the castletown.
 * CONCLUSION**

media type="custom" key="13416434"

Deal, William E. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. New York: Facts on File, Inc., 2006. Print.
 * CONCLUSION**

Turnbull, Stephen. Warriors of Medieval Japan. New York: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2005. Print.

Pyle, Kenneth B. The Making of Modern Japan. Lexington, MA: D. C. Health, 1996. Print.