hirajiro　平城

KEY WORD :　architecture / castles

Lit. flatland castle. A castle built on a plain with the main defensive elements being rivers, swamps, and man-made moats. One of the three main types of castles classified by Edo period military scholars according to geographical topography. Flatland locations suggests that political and economic considerations were more important that strategic ones in sitting. In the Momoyama period when the wars among the feudal lords had been brought to an end by the power of Toyotomi Hideyoshi 豊臣秀吉 (1536 - 1598), flatland castles were built as power symbols rather than as fortresses. Nevertheless, sites were selected where waterways could become natural barriers to aggression and stone ramparts were constructed as a base on which the castle compound was situated. Model examples include Nagoyajou 名古屋城 in Aichi prefecture, Sunpujou 駿府城 in Shizuoka prefecture. See also flatland mountain castle *hirayamajiro 平山城, and the mountain castle *yamajiro 山城.

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