Japanese Fortified Temples and Monasteries AD 710-1062 by Stephen Turnbull

Author:Stephen Turnbull
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Japanese Fortified Temples and Monasteries AD 710–1062
ISBN: 9781782000136
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
Published: 2012-04-09T16:00:00+00:00

Torigoe, where a fortified temple is almost indistinguishable from a samurai’s castle.

The view from the summit of the mountain on which Torigoe stands, showing how the fortress temple dominated the landscape. The modern Ikko-ikki Museum may be seen beside the road.

The fortified temple as yamashiro: Torigoe, 1582

This plate shows the hon maru (innermost bailey) and ni no maru (second bailey) of Torigoe as they would have appeared prior to Oda Nobunaga’s final assault in 1582. It is a typical small, isolated, fortified temple that appears to float in the morning mist in the valley below. The fortifications have been reconstructed based on archaeological evidence and the reconstructed buildings on site, some of which make use of the limited stone that was available. The religious buildings within the hon maru are based on existing contemporary structures elsewhere, particularly Shorenji at Takayama, built in 1504.

The reconstruction of small sections of various military structures allows us to envisage the castle as a whole, although unfortunately no reconstruction has been carried out for the religious buildings. The appearance of these may however be inferred from the archaeological findings (mainly post holes) and by comparison with other similar buildings elsewhere. When the dig commenced numerous post holes were discovered. These would have held the large single-stone foundations on which each upright wooden pillar of the temple buildings was individually supported. The hon maru was a near perfect rectangle that narrowed slightly towards the rear because of the presence at the front of the enclosure of a watchtower. It measured approximately 50m by 21m. A layer of black ash was found from the time of the castle’s final fall and subsequent destruction.

The archaeologists concluded that at the time of the sieges of 1581–82 there were three buildings within the hon maru courtyard. The largest building, probably a goeido, covered an area covered by seven post holes by six, thus giving the building an approximate floor size of 15m by 10m deep. The post holes make a perfect rectangle, indicating that the goeido was a simple building without any projecting porch. It would therefore seem reasonable to assume that the goeido was very similar in appearance to the contemporary Shorenji in Takayama.

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