The feudal-period architecture of Japan, which reached the climax of its development during the late sixteenth and the early seventeenth centuries, is most strikingly represented by its two dominant forms: the castle and the shoin-style mansion. The castle, as the stronghold of the ruling shogun or the provincial feudal lord, symbolized prestige and military might and was therefore appropriately magnificent in structure and size. The shoin-style mansion of the samurai retainer, although less grandiose in scale, was equally a symbol of social standing and military rank. Both of these forms of architecture were characterized by great dignity of design and by a richness of interior decoration unprecedented in Japanese history.
The present book concerns itself with these two architectural types, giving attention not only to their chief structural features but also to the details of their décor and, at the same time, painting in the dramatic historical background against which they developed. As an exposition of the castle and the shoin styles, it is invaluable, for it represents a distillation of the finest in . scholarly research, and it offers an abundance of information on both extant and long since vanished buildings in these two styles.
Here, for example, are such celebrated structures as Juraku-dai, castle-palace of the military dictator Toyotomi Hideyoshi; Edo Castle, seat of the Tokugawa shoguns; Nijo Castle, still one of the showplaces of Kyoto; and the daimyo mansions of Edo. Here, too, are descriptions of their lavishly decorated interiors and of the social scene for which the castle and the shoin mansion served as a stage.
The book is generously furnished with a total of 161 illustrations, including 20 in full color and 32 architectural drawings. These, together with the pleasantly informative text, compose an absorbing study of one of the most remarkable phases of Japanese architectural history.