Ishigaki: curved-slope stone walls of Japanese castles
Ishigaki: muros de piedra de castillo japonés de talud cóncavo
- Date
- 1576 · confidence medium
- Place
- Azuchi, Omihachiman, Shiga, Japan
- Credited to
- Oda Nobunaga and the Anō-shū stonemasons' guild
- Field
- Tools
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Mortarless stone retaining walls that curve toward the top, with gravel fill for drainage and a face of fitted stones. They withstand quakes and assault and carry heavy timber keeps.
Stone walls existed in earlier castles; Azuchi (1576-1579) popularised the large stone base for a keep. The concave sori curve was perfected in the Edo period.
What it led to
- stone fortresses at Himeji and Osaka castles
- stonemason guilds of the Edo era
- drainage and gravel-fill engineering of retaining walls