Most all of us have heard of the samurai. These were the personal guards and sometimes armies of prominent and powerful rulers in Japan. The Japanese spent a considerable amount of time fighting each other over the years and these men were the ones who did the majority of the fighting. However, there were times when Japan was united and one of them was in the late 1500s. During this time, and only during this time, the samurai were used against a foreign power. In this case it was Korea.

During this period of occupation that lasted from 1592-1598, the Japanese built a number of wajo or castles, mostly along the southern coast of Korea. Many of these were built on sites of Korean fortifications, but were distinctly Japanese in their design. For the most part, they were able to withstand the onslaught of not only the Koreans, but later the Chinese, this despite the huge disparity between the numbers of attackers and defenders. Of course all this manpower against the Japanese finally forced them to leave and return to Japan, leaving their wajo behind. Fortunately for modern archeologists, the Koreans did nothing to upgrade or improve these sites over the years so what is left is true 16th century Japanese fortification construction.

The history of the Japanese in Korea at this time and the design and development of castles and fortifications is thoroughly investigated by author Stephen Turnbull, one of the world's leading experts on the Japanese of this period. The book includes not only the physical plant, but also the weapons used, the lives of the men who maintained and fought there, and the use of these facilities during attack. Each site is examined and its positive and negative aspects are discussed.

All of this is additionally enhanced by photos of the current sites, period art work and the illustrations of Peter Dennis. Though some of the fortifications are either gone or inaccessible, many are still extant and those areas are shown and discussed.

In all, a superb addition to the Fortress series and a book that I believe you will find interesting.

December 2007

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