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Ashikaga Takauji
A painted silk portrait thought to represent Ashikaga Takauji (r. 1338-1358), first shogun of Japan's Ashikaga shogunate (aka Muromachi shogunate) which would rule Japan until 1573. (The Shogun is show in a traidtional seated...
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Samurai Bow Before The Shogun
Artist's impression of samurai before their shogun, inside a ceremonial building. Created by Amplitude Studios for the video game Humankind.
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Stone Ramparts of the Inner Ward at Hara Castle
Stone ramparts of the inner ward at Hara Castle, photograph by Matthew Allison, 4 October 2025. Unlike much of Hara Castle at the end of the Shimabara Rebellion, the ishigaki (stone ramparts) that form...
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Statue of Amakusa Shiro at Hara Castle
Statue of Amakusa Shiro at Hara Castle, photograph by Matthew Allison, 4 October 2025. Amakusa Shiro (1621-1638) was the supposed leader of the Shimabara Rebellion, a Christian uprising in southern Japan from...
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Stone Statues Overlook the Ariake Sea at Hara Castle
Stone statues overlook the Ariake Sea at Hara Castle, photograph by Matthew Allison, 4 October 2025. At the highest point of Hara Castle, where the inner ward housing the Shimabara Rebellion's leaders...
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Japanese Castles
Fortifications of one kind or another had been used in Japan since ancient times, but in the period from 1576 until 1639, a new and distinctive style of castle was constructed. Rather than being used for fighting, these were impressive...
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The Ryukyu Castles of Okinawa
The medieval Ryukyu castles on the island of Okinawa, Japan are impressive testimony to the kingdom's power and wealth from the 12th to 16th century. Notable castles include Shuri Castle, the royal residence, and four...
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Ming Taxation & the Silver Economy
The rulers of China's Ming dynasty (1368-1644) acquired an insatiable desire for silver in the 16th century, largely to pay for huge prestige projects like building the Forbidden City in Beijing and repairing the...
Curriculum Collection
AP World History Unit 3 - Land-Based Empires (c. 1450–1750)
Between 1450 and 1750 CE, rulers across Eurasia built land empires on a scale not seen before, using gunpowder weaponry to conquer and intricate bureaucracies to govern. The Ottomans took Constantinople...
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Model of Edo Castle during the Tokugawa Period
Scale model of the Honmaru and Ninomaru Palaces of Edo Castle, as they would have appeared during the late Tokugawa Shogunate. (Edo-Tokyo Museum, Japan)
