Phoenix Hall Writers' Blog

AZ II Buildings Series: Azuchi Castle                                             Copyright © William Stong 2021

God Help Us is historical fiction and is the first volume of The Chrysanthemum, The Cross, & The Lion saga. It begins when a contingent of Japanese samurai, returning from a stint as bodyguards for the King of Siam, are attacked by a larger Spanish force. Horrifically, the Spanish capture a woman samurai, Watanabe Mariko.

The novel opens with the captain of the expedition, Mariko’s older brother Nobuhide, rescuing her on an isolated Leyte Island beach. She avenges her abuse by killing the remaining Spaniards. She then asks her brother, Nobuhide, to be her kaishaku-nin, the assistant in the seppuku (ritual suicide) that will allow her to retrieve her honor.  

Unfortunately, their lord, Oda Nobunaga, has forbidden any seppuku during the expedition under a terrific penalty. Mariko decides to postpone the ceremony. She will go to Lord Oda and convince him to permit her to redeem her honor.

Back in Japan, the two siblings find Lord Oda at Azuchi, in 1576, as the castle is being built. The whole mountain is being transformed by an army of engineers and laborers, while architects, stone masons, carpenters, and artisans build and outfit the castle. As mentioned in “The Azuchi Castle in God Help Us” (July 30, 2021), I selected the Naitō version of the castle. 

During these chapters, while Mariko tries again and again to convince Lord Oda to let her perform seppuku that very night, this is what I imagined has been completed:

❶ Level One:            The ground floor/basement is in place, with the foundations complete to hold the upper levels. Otherwise, it is unfinished and serves as a staging area for materials and work pieces for the floors and scaffolding above.

❷ Level Two:           The floor is in place except for a large space in the center, over which planks have been laid. A large audience hall with hidden walls is being constructed on the west side, overlooking Lake Biwa.

❸ Level Three:        Similar to Level Two, with a completed Weapons Room, also on the west side, that is already stocked.

❹ Level Four:          Some flooring is in place around the outer walls. A completed room overlooking the lake is used for dining, but artisans have not yet painted the sliding panels, nor lacquered the framing posts. 

❺ Level Five:           Framing only, no floor. Steep stairs along the outer walls allow workers to move between the levels.

❻ Level Six:             A rough floor is in place, which protects the levels and workers below from the weather. Structural framing in place.

❼ Level Seven:         Octagonal framing is in place. From the top of this framing, open scaffolding soars above for the eventual construction of the final level and roofing.

In these chapters, Mariko tries several times to convince Lord Oda to let her commit seppuku in Azuchi, his wonderful new castle, that night. She comes closest to getting herself—and Nobuhide—killed while eating and drinking in a dining room on Level 4 . . . unfortunately, she fails.

God Help Us opens with Mariko’s quest for justice and honor. God Help Us ends with a series of chapters when Mariko, six years later, is finally able to visit Lord Oda’s magnificent castle in all its completed splendor.

Next: What Azuchi castle is like at the end of God Help Us.

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Notes:

❶       Source of photographs

1. Wikipedia

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Medieval_carrack_-_detail_by_Pieter_Bruegel_the_Elder.jpg

 Medieval_carrack_-_detail_by_Pieter_Breugel_the_Elder

Licensing

2. Wikipedia

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Japanese-Tokugawa-Ship-Ataka-Maru.png

 800 px Japanese-Tokugawa-Ship-Ataka-Maru

Licensing

3. Photo by author

From Nobunaga no Yakata Museum               安土城天主 信長の館

Azuchi, Japan; May 2017

Diorama of work groups moving materials during the construction of Azuchi Castle.

4. Photo by author

From Sumpu Castle in Shizuoka, Japan; May 2017

Reconstructed interior showing an outer hallway without shoji (rice paper) panels installed.

5. Photo by author

From Nobunaga no Yakata Museum               安土城天主 信長の館

Azuchi, Japan; May 2017

Detail from diorama: rows of men carrying a huge stone for use in the foundations of Azuchi Castle.

❷       A literary disclosure: for fictional purposes, I added an additional level between Levels 2 & 3 in the novel.

AZ II Buildings Series: Azuchi Castle                        Copyright © William Stong 2021

From the platform of the JR (Japan Railways) Azuchi station, you can see a building that looks like a castle on the other side of the tracks. That building also has the Oda kamon on the apex of the wall below the sweeping roof, so clearly the place has something to do with Lord Oda Nobunaga and the castle.

& of the building; 2021-04-20 #856>

Getting there is a bit tricky because the exit from the train platform leads to the main plaza, which is on the other side of the tracks. That plaza has a statue of Oda Nobunaga and maps of the nearby area.

The way to the castle-like building is an underground passage that is at the south end of the station (on the right side if you are facing the station from the plaza). Go through that passage, which takes you under the tracks, and when you come out on the other side, the museum is on your left, with the entrance around the building’s corner, facing the street.

The staff are incredibly welcoming and friendly. They have an enthusiasm for what’s on display and its subject matter. Although Azuchijokaku Museum is relatively small, it has a full range of amenities:

► a small gift area

► a small café

► a seating area for a short film

► and several exhibits

Some might consider it more of a tourist destination than a proper museum but there are several different exhibits, you can learn much about the castle and its history, and the main attraction is a stunner:

► A 1/20^th scale model of the Naitō version of Azuchi castle

► The model slides open for a full cutaway of what all the levels inside might have looked like when Lord Oda Nobunaga was at the height of his power. (Indeed, I think that might be Lord Oda standing on the sixth level, gazing over all that he controls).

Photography is permitted. The lady on duty the day I visited was kind enough to leave the cutaway open a little bit longer so that I could take as many photos as I liked. With visions of possible scenes and of characters moving through those hallways, going up the stairs, and doing things in the rooms, I took tons of photos.

This wonderful model can also be seen from platforms overlooking it, which provide neat perspectives:

<insert photo of model from the platform; 2021-04-20 # 822 >

From the platforms, one has a unique view of the castle model, as well as of the museum’s exhibits, gift area, and café.

Back in 1582, if Lord Oda’s ally, Tokugawa Ieyasu, were hawking from the top of the castle, this view is exactly what his hawk would have seen as it flew back to land on his forearm.

Next: Assuming, for literary reasons, that the Naitō version is what Azuchi castle looked like in the early 1580s, how has it been used as a backdrop for God Help Us?

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Notes:

All photos by the author.