Japanese Castle Tenshu (17th century)

Timeline

1. c. 1560–1582Mount Azuchi, Omi Province (Azuchi Castle site) · KinkiIn the late Warring States period, daimyo across the country began building multi-story keeps on hilltops to strengthen defenses and display authority. Oda Nobunaga built Azuchi Castle on Mount Azuchi in Omi in 1576; its tenshu rose seven stories, lavishly decorated inside with Chinese and European elements, and was the first Japanese castle centered on a freestanding high keep, establishing the architectural paradigms of the watchtower-type and layered-tower-type tenshu and decisively influencing Momoyama-period construction.
2. 1583–1615Castles across the Japanese archipelago · Japanese archipelagoToyotomi Hideyoshi successively built Osaka Castle (1583) and Fushimi Castle (1594), while Tokugawa Ieyasu built Edo Castle (tenshu completed 1606) and Nagoya Castle (1612). The best-preserved tenshu of this period include Himeji Castle (reconstruction completed 1609, now a National Treasure), Matsumoto Castle (1590s), and Inuyama Castle (c. 1601). Tenshu scale and decoration reached a historical peak, with golden shachihoko (tiger-headed fish ornaments) and white shikkui (lime plaster) walls becoming iconic images.
3. 1615–1657Edi, shogunate-controlled territory · KantoAfter the Summer Campaign of Osaka (1615), the Tokugawa shogunate promulgated the Buke Shohatto, mandating the principle of 'one castle per province,' requiring domains to demolish surplus castles, and stipulating that new construction or repairs of castles required prior approval from the shogunate. Tenshu construction then declined sharply, with only occasional approved repairs; the military function of the tenshu gradually receded, becoming more a symbol of domain authority and regional cultural identity.
4. 1657–1680Edo Castle and domain castles · Japanese archipelagoThe Meireki Fire of 1657 destroyed Edo Castle's tenshu; the shogunate's rojū Hoshina Masayuki advocated against rebuilding, prioritizing the revival of people's livelihoods, and the shogunate adopted this view — Edo Castle's tenshu was never rebuilt, leaving only the stone base to this day. In the 1670s, during the Enpō era (1673–1681) under Tokugawa Tsunayoshi's rule, tenshu nationwide entered a phase of static preservation: existing tenshu received routine maintenance but none were newly built; domains preserved their tenshu as symbolic structures, and in Edo society the tenshu had transformed from a military facility into a vestigial symbol of domain history and local identity.