wajou　倭城

KEY WORD :　architecture / castles

A Japanese castle. Refers to 25 castles constructed in various regions of Korea by the Japanese forces during the Bunroku 文禄 -Keichou 慶長 war (1592-97), during the Japanese Momoyama period. Many were built on the coast for easy sea access: several were located in the Pusan 釜山 area in S.E. Korea. The castle plans and surviving ruins indicate that the castles had a main compound *honmaru 本丸, second compound *ni-no-maru 二の丸, and third compound san-no-maru 三の丸. Wajou also had moats, ramparts, stone walls, parapets, gates, including two-story gates, towers *yagura 櫓, row houses *nagaya 長屋; all features that were important in castles built in Japan. A surviving record entitled OOKAWAUCHI MONOGATARI 大河内物語 provides details about Urusanjou 蔚山城 in S.E. Korea. It shows three compounds with a large outer moat and several gateways. Seiseihojou 西生浦城 in Ryosan 梁山 province is unusual in that it is built on a 200m high hill which is completely surrounded in Korean style by a stone-faced wall *ishigaki 石垣.

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