Stone Walls 石垣

Himeji’s builders used an evolving series of masonry techniques during the castle’s major construction periods in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. The most basic method was simply to place unfinished stones on top of each other. A more sophisticated approach, called uchikomi-hagi, involved roughly shaping the stones and hammering them into place. The most refined walls were made by kirikomi-hagi, in which masons cut the stones cleanly and precisely to create a smooth, jointed wall with few gaps.

The three basic kinds of stone wall are made using different shaping and piling techniques. You can tell them apart by the smoothness of their surfaces.

Nozura-zumi (Piled Stone Wall)

These walls date to the time of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537–1598). The stones are mostly sedimentary and igneous rock, and their sizes vary greatly. Due to lack of materials, builders sometimes improvised by repurposing carved stone items such as grinding stones and coffins. Nozura-zumi walls have a gentle, linear slope.

Uchikomi-hagi (Wedged Stone Wall)

These walls were built by Ikeda Terumasa (1565–1613), the lord who expanded and renovated the castle at the start of the seventeenth century. The walls slope gently upward in a fan-like shape. The shaping and placement of the stones remain somewhat rough, but the walls are reinforced at the corners by more precisely cut stones stacked in an alternating formation like brickwork, a technique called sangi-zumi.

Kirikomi-hagi (Trimmed Stone Wall)

This type of stone wall is found in part of the Musashino Goten residence built by Honda Tadamasa (1575–1631). They are the newest stone walls at Himeji Castle. Builders used chisels to cut the stones into precisely shaped blocks, then stacked them without gaps.

Look and Feel

Try your hand at masonry

Stack the blocks of wood to form the sangi-zumi corner of a Himeji Castle wall.

Stone Wall

This stone retaining wall is one of the oldest surviving walls at Himeji Castle. It is thought to date to around 1580, when the warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537–1598) began expanding and reinforcing what was then a small local fortress. Hideyoshi brought most of Japan under his control at the end of the sixteenth century after more than a century of civil wars.

Like other powerful lords of his day, Hideyoshi ordered his retainers to build the castle. They brought laborers and materials from their domains to complete the work. The walls they built were mostly of rough, unfinished stones (nozura-zumi—see below). During the sixteenth century, however, Japanese castle construction techniques developed rapidly. By the beginning of the seventeenth century, walls were built with carefully cut stone to create a smoother, more finished look.

Evolution of Himeji Castle’s Walls

Nozura-zumi (Piled-stone wall)

These walls date to the time of Hideyoshi in the late sixteenth century. The stones are mostly volcanic or sedimentary rocks, and their sizes vary widely. Builders sometimes recycled existing materials by using old grinding stones, gravestones, or stone caskets. Compared to later styles, nozura-zumi walls are less steep and easier to climb.

Uchikomi-hagi (Wedged-stone wall)

These walls were built by Ikeda Terumasa (1565–1613), the daimyo lord who expanded and renovated the castle at the start of the seventeenth century. They slope upward in a fan-like arc. The shaping and placement of the stones remains somewhat rough, but the walls are reinforced at the corners by more precisely cut stones stacked in an alternating formation like brickwork, a technique known as sangi-zumi.

Kirikomi-hagi (Trimmed-stone wall)

Walls of this type are found in part of the Third Bailey (sannomaru), built by Honda Tadamasa (1575–1631). They are the newest stone walls at Himeji Castle. Builders used chisels to cut the stones into precisely shaped blocks, then stacked them without gaps. The upper portion of these walls is often completely vertical.