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Classification of the Castle

As a Castle taxonomy by geographical features classified by a military science person of the Edo era includes Yama Shiro (Mountain Castle), Hirayama Shiro（Flatland Mountain Castle) , and Hira Shiro (Flatland Castle).
Yama shiro, Hirayama shiro, Hira shiro is one of the castle taxonomy by geographical features classified by a military science person of the Edo era.
It is the classification by geographical features, but the clear rule " Classifying on the basis of several meters above see level" does not exist.
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" Yama shiro " is a castle built using a steep, rugged mountain.

The highlands are advantageous to military defense, and the act to build the Castle on the mountain was carried out universally regardless of a place and the times.
It is desirable to build the Castle in the topography which is advantageous to defense, and the steep mountain meets the condition, but it was inconvenient and was far from the place of residence of the person who is the object which should protect to live.
Therefore, the mountain castle was often built as a defense only. The lord of a castle lived in the foot with inhabitants in a time of peace and when an enemy attacked it, he shut himself up in Yama shiro and fought.
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" Hirayama shiro " is a castle built in a plateau and the hill country.

It had both protective function and the roles of the administrative office and achieved the central role of the economy in the fief rule. Castle Town was formed and planned defense.
As process of the establishment,
① In Yama shiro of the last part of The Sengoku period, it built the mansions of the vassal on the hillside, and a vassal and families live and held it hostage and the lord of a castle held a mansion and did a castle.
②The personal war using a sword and the spear was mainstream until The Sengoku period, but the attack from a long distance was enabled by guns having spread late in The Sengoku period, and the tactics changed into group round.
③ The many members of mobilization possessed by Daimyo could not be covered by conventional Yamashiro.
And so on are considered.
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" Hira shiro " is a castle built in the level ground.

At the last part of The Sengoku period, as the role as a political and economic base became more important, the Castle was built on the flat land which is a key point of transportation and commerce.
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