Azuchi Castle's location was also strategically advantageous in managing the communications and transportation routes between Nobunaga's greatest foes – the Uesugi to the north, the Takeda in the east, and the Mōri to the west.

This all-stone-walled castle was built on a vast site on the banks of Lake Biwa as a new stronghold for Oda Nobunaga.

[6][7]: 289, 301 Unlike earlier castles and fortresses, Azuchi was not intended to be a military structure alone, cold, dark, and foreboding.

Nobunaga intended it as a mansion which would impress and intimidate his rivals not only with its defenses, but also with its lavish apartments and decorations, flourishing town, and religious life.

In addition, the facade of the Azuchi donjon, unlike the solid white or black of other keeps, was colorfully decorated with tigers and dragons.

[8] On New Year's Day (lunar calendar) in 1582, Nobunaga opened the interior of Azuchi Castle to guests of honour.

The castle was set aflame a week or so later, with some accounts claiming this might have been the work of looting townspeople, or of one of Nobunaga's sons.

[10] The highest respect given to Confucianism in Azuchi Castle implies that Nobunaga's ideas were shifting from tactics for the battlefield to the responsibility of ruling the realm and ensuring peace and order all around.

[11] In 1976, the Japanese architectural historian Akira Naitō published what he believed to be a conclusive summary of the features of Azuchi Castle.

Another Japanese Architectural Historian, Miyakami Shigetaka, has accused Naitō of failing to corroborate his theory with enough documentation.

Oda Nobunaga gifted them to Pope Gregory XIII, who displayed them in the Vatican collections, where they were admired by visitors.

In addition, a full-scale replica of the top floors of the donjon is on display at the Nobunaga no Yakata Museum near the original castle ruins.