The elegant multi-storey main towers of Japanese castles surrounded by massive fortifications
are widely known as symbols of samurai rule. However the first of these tenshukaku were built
only at the very end of the Sengoku period. Most fortifications were built of wood with eart-
hen ramparts and ditches exploiting the natural environment. The second volume of this series
details these constructions as well as the fortifications that were affected by major sieges:
Fushimi Tanabe Otsu and Ueda in 1600 and Osaka in 1614 15. The author explains the
sophisticated siege techniques and countermeasures employed by samurai armies of the period
and the Japanese artillery of the time. A second focus is on the complex heraldry of leading as
well as lesser known samurai families of the Sengoku period illustrated by many colourful
examples. The third part offers an introduction to the world of traditional Japa- nese textile
patterns and colours their use methods of manufacture in the pre-industrial age and their
special symbolism in the context of samurai history.
