![]() This expression was elevated to a level of elite status by means of a new breed of master carpenter versed in the newly capable technology of architectural drawing. I contend that the tenshu as an evolved form of yagura (unembellished towers used in sieges) represents an unique expression of provincial warrior identity. The case will be made that the tenshu represents a unique product of class, technology, and ideology. The second part of this dissertation is focused on the Azuchi tenshu. To this end, the disparate written primary sources on Azuchi, the waves of archeological digs, and the numerous reconstructive models of the tenshu are explored and the known perimeters of the “object” at the center of this study is as best as possible, defined. The first part of this dissertation is thus dedicated to surveying and simplifying the issues that have inspired the contentious and confusing image of Azuchi that exists in scholarly discourse. However, owing to its short, three-year life and the tantalizingly vague and often contradictory records that remain of it, Azuchi has often been the subject of unfettered and under-qualified speculation. Due to its landmark importance in Japanese history, Azuchi has not suffered from a lack of attention. Completed in 1579, it was conceived and constructed to be a capital for the first of the so-called “three-unifiers” of Japan, Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582). Azuchi Castle was located on a small mountain on the eastern shores of Lake Biwa. This study seeks to clarify the limits of knowledge regarding Azuchi Castle (Azuchi-jō) and, in turn, offers a multifaceted interpretation of its crowning glory―the six-story, lavishly decorated, timber-framed tower known as a tenshu (donjon). Whether Shinto shrines, elaborate Buddhist temples, intricate castles, or modern skyscrapers, Japan has fought to retain a sense of identity that even today resonates in the seamless fusion of purpose, design, and environment. The modern Japan was not the same country as it was during the primeval, medieval, and imperial ages yet Japan’s cultural identity permeated all these time periods and today struggles against a modern society which seems more disjoined from its cultural history than ever before. ![]() The impacts of religious migration from China, militarism, nationalism, and modernization have all influenced Japan’s architectural emphasis, yet there has always been a unique Japan-ness to the structures. Using eleven moments in time, architectural achievements were examined to determine the social and cultural emphasis within Japan at that time. These transformations have been precipitated by religion, nationalism, and war. Over the past fourteen hundred years, Japan has undergone tremendous social transformation and this is evident in its architectural history. These social changes can manifest in many different ways, from political to physical structures. ![]() Throughout history, societies undergo transformative influences that change the very nature of that society.
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