Japanese castle towns in the Edo period

The idea

A 城下町 developed around a 城. In early modern towns, warrior residences and townspeople’s districts were often separated; shops and temples were also part of urban life. These examples use modern polite Japanese.

Examples

• 城下町じょうかまちは城しろの周まわりに作つくられました。A castle town was built around a castle.
• 城しろの近ちかくに武士ぶしが住すんでいました。Warriors lived near the castle.
• 町まちには商人しょうにんの店みせがありました。There were merchants’ shops in the town.
• 商人しょうにんが布ぬのを売うりました。A merchant sold cloth.
• この町まちには、お寺てらもありました。There was also a temple in this town.
• 城しろと町まちを地図ちずで見みました。I looked at the castle and the town on a map.

Watch out

Castle towns differed by location and changed over time; not every resident was a warrior.

Try it yourself

1. Choose the Japanese term for “castle town”: （城下町じょうかまち／城しろ）

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   城下町

   城下町 means “castle town”; 城 means “castle”.

2. Choose the Japanese term for “castle”: （城しろ／武士ぶし）

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   城

   城 means “castle”; 武士 means “warrior”.

3. Choose the Japanese term for “warrior”: （武士ぶし／城下町じょうかまち）

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   武士

   武士 means “warrior”; 城下町 means “castle town”.

Use it today

Describe a castle town on a map in two Japanese sentences.