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A typical Japanese castle would have a castle tower, a guard tower, walls and moats, and gates. The castle tower, or donjon, is the crowning glory of the castle. It is found in the innermost part of the castle and usually is the best defended part. The guard towers, or Yagura, serve a dual purpose - watch towers and storage. The walls and moats served as the primary defense from hostile forces. The gates of Japanese castles are unique as they usually are made of two gates placed at a right angle to each other. This formation creates a space within the walls, which is very heavily defended.
The larger Japanese castles typically have three rings - primarily for defense purposes. The outer ring is called the sannomaru, the middle ring ninomaru, and the third ring honmaru. It is in the honmaru where you can find the castle tower while the lords and nobles resided in the ninomaru. The rest of the people lived in the town. Merchants and artisans had specially designated places to live in while the Samurai lived closer to the castle walls.
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