kangou shuuraku　環濠集落

KEY WORD :　architecture / castles

A settlement surrounded by a moat. The earliest enclosed settlement appeared about 2000 years ago and is associated with the Yayoi culture (see *Yayoi jidai 弥生時代). These settlements gradually developed as stable farming communities with rice paddies and stationary architecture consisting of pit dwellings and raised floor structures. Each settlement might have 35 to 36 structures, a population of 100 to 200 people, and be surrounded by a dry moat 1.5 to 2.0 meters deep with an embankment 1.5 meters high and 4 meters wide. The moat and embankment usually measured about 200 meters from east to west and 130-meters from north to south. Kangou shuuraku displayed extensive development in the medieval and early modern period and were constructed in western and eastern Japan. Settlements of this type had various configurations, characters, and geographical and historical backgrounds. At the end of the Warring States period, some settlements were established by the True-school Pure Land, Ikkou 一向 sect followers and became Buddhist temple compounds with commercial enterprises, jinaimachi 寺内町.

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