Photo/Illutration Experts say the stone wall at the ruins of Fushimi Castle in Kyoto’s Fushimi Ward was built in consideration of its appearance and quake-resistance strength. Each of the large, white split rocks was surrounded by black filling stones. (Junko Saimoto)

KYOTO--A stone wall unearthed at the ruins of Fushimi Castle here suggests that 16th-century warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi built the structure with the latest quake-resistant techniques after a nearby castle was destroyed by a powerful temblor.

The advanced countermeasures against earthquakes are believed to have influenced castle-building methods in later years, according to an Oct. 13 announcement by Kyoto city's cultural property protection division.

Experts say the finding sheds light on the details of how castle-building methods developed during the rule of Hideyoshi (1537-1598), who unified war-torn Japan.

The stone wall, which is 1.8 meters tall and 7 meters wide and runs east to west, is believed to have been a boundary that divided the central part of the castle and warriors’ residences.

Its piling stones vary in size on the surface, with some measuring 35 by 50 centimeters and others 60 by 75 cm.

Fushimi Castle was built by Hideyoshi on Mount Fushimiyama, also known as Kohatayama, after Shigetsu-Fushimi Castle just nearby was leveled by the Keicho Earthquake in 1596.

It was later reconstructed by warlord Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder and the first shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate.

“In light of stone types, processing and building techniques and other features, the stone wall is thought to have been erected around 1597 during the rule of Toyotomi,” said Hideto Morioka, a joint researcher specializing in archaeology at the Archaeological Institute of Kashihara, Nara Prefecture, who is well-versed in stone walls.

According to city officials, stones used for the surface of the wall are deeper in depth than those used at Shigetsu-Fushimi Castle. One is as many as 95 cm deep.

Stones piled up behind the surface stones to form a layer that served as a retaining wall designed to drain water and disperse the force are stacked in a way that they are steadily interlocked with one another, suggesting that the method was aimed at increasing the earthquake resistance of the structure.

“It appears that engineers at the time learned lessons after Shigetsu-Fushimi Castle was leveled by the earthquake and studied the causes,” said Yoshihiro Senda, a Nara University professor specializing in castle archaeology. “Many adjustments and improvements can be found throughout the structure.”

In addition, the stone wall apparently had a distinctive appearance.

It is believed that the blue-black shale stones were mainly used to fill the gaps between granites and other large whitish rocks, with the black stones arranged to surround each of the white rocks.

“It was the first stone wall that came into view when the castle was entered from the south,” Senda said. “It must have looked gorgeous and brilliant. I think the color combination of white and black looked quite outstanding.”

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