Detail view on Imabari Water Castle. Imabari, Ehime Prefecture, Japan

Imabari Castle was built in 1602 by Todo Takatora, widely considered to be the greatest Japanese castle builder. Whereas many of the great castles he built, Fushimi, Edo, and Nijo Castle in Kyoto, were built for others, Imabari he built for himself. He was awarded the fief by Tokugawa Ieyasu following the battle of Sekigahara in 1600. Prior to that Todo had two smaller domains a little further south, Uwajima and then Ozu, both castles which he built. One of the innovations credited to Todo that can be seen at Imabari was building extra-wide moats due to the widespread use of firearms. The moat at Imabari Castle could also have the water level raised or lowered by a series of sluice gates, though it is possible that Todo had access to plans of fortifications built by the Dutch in Taiwan that used this method.

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