Here’s the closing entry in my set of Field Reports about the ruins of a 16th-century Japanese castle in Suncheon, South Korea. The preceding posts (Part 1 and Part 2) are concerned mainly with my visit to the site itself, whilst the present article supplies background information. I’ve also set out some practical advice on…

Let’s continue our visit to the ruins of Suncheon Castle (순천왜성), a 16th-century fortress built by the invasion army of Japanese warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi on the coast of Jeollanam-do, South Korea.

Until recently, my interest in Japanese castles was geographically confined to Japan itself. (Hardly a surprise, since that’s where nearly all of them are.) That changed this past winter when I visited the ruins of a 16th-century fortress designed by the Japanese, built using Japanese techniques, and bearing all the hallmarks of a typical Japanese…