BDP11: Samurai Castle
Posted by Huw,
Crowd Support for BrickLink Designer Program series 11 has begun, so once again we'll be publishing a few articles written by project designers, starting with this one by DistractedBuilder:
A LEGO Japanese castle has been on my wishlist for a very long time. Although set 21060 Himeji Castle is a fantastic set, it was not exactly the type of Japanese castle with minifigures that I had always dreamed of.
That is why I decided to design one myself. My castle reached 10,000 supporters on LEGO Ideas within just three months, but unfortunately, it was not selected in the latest review round.
However, I am not ready to give up on my dream set yet, which is why I submitted my Samurai Castle to Series 11 of the Bricklink Designer Program.
Inspiration
The model is inspired by two main sources: the iconic castles built during Japan’s Edo period and Ninja, the classic LEGO Castle subtheme from 1998 and 1999.
Japanese castles from the feudal era are famous for their wooden towers, elegant curved roofs and massive stone walls. They were built to protect powerful samurai leaders while also demonstrating their wealth, strength, and status. Today, these castles remain important cultural landmarks that symbolise Japan’s history, traditional architecture, and samurai heritage.
Matsumoto Castle - photo by Alexander Schimmeck
My second source of inspiration is Ninja, the classic LEGO theme from the late 1990s. It was one of my favourite themes as a child. Perhaps the most iconic set from the theme is set 6093 Flying Ninja's Fortress. In my opinion, it remains a fantastic theme with memorable minifigures and many unique elements, such as the fish ornaments, the very first bamboo plant pieces, and the angled wall elements with stone decorations.
My Model
My submission for BDP Series 11 is a castle consisting of approximately 3,200 pieces. The castle is divided into two main sections: a large central keep and a smaller tower, a layout commonly found in real Japanese castles. The two structures are connected by a large entrance gate.
This version is already the fifth iteration of the model, with every update introducing new improvements and additional details. However, the overall concept has remained largely unchanged since the very beginning. Below, you can see a screenshot from the building process of the very first version from 2024.
The current version is packed with details and interesting building techniques. Each tower contains multiple rooms that tell their own stories and offer opportunities for creative play. The smaller tower houses the katana blacksmith and the samurai’s living quarters. The large keep features a grand throne room, a basement training area, a Japanese kitchen, and even a prison. At the very top of the castle is the shogun’s private residence, where he keeps carrier pigeons and writes letters.
Without a doubt, the greatest challenge while designing this model was creating the roofs. Traditional Japanese castle roofs contain many complex slopes and elegant curves. I am happy with how they turned out in the final design. Below, you can see the building technique I used to create the curved roof corners.
What About Ninjago?
In my opinion, a strong BDP set is something LEGO itself would probably never produce, while still filling a gap within the current LEGO portfolio. Of course, LEGO Ninjago shares some overlap with a Samurai Castle, but Ninjago is primarily aimed at a younger audience and heavily incorporates fantasy and modern influences, such as mechs, motorised vehicles, and dragons.
What I feel is currently missing are sets with a more realistic and grounded tone based on feudal Japan, specifically aimed at adult builders. This means less reliance on bright colours and fantasy elements, and more focus on historical inspiration and authentic architecture. That said, I do not think Samurai Castle conflicts with Ninjago. In fact, many Ninjago minifigures fit naturally within the castle’s setting and work surprisingly well alongside its more realistic, feudal Japan-inspired design.
If you would like to support my Samurai Castle, please vote for it. I would also love to hear your feedback, and if you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments below!
P.S. For this round of the BrickLink Designer Program, I also submitted an updated version of my Paradisa Hotel: a Miami Ocean Drive-inspired hotel inspired by the classic LEGO Paradisa theme.
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14 comments on this article
Finally a non-European castle on BDP!
I like the general look of this and it would be nice to get on non-European castle for a change. I do feel the rock foundation is a bit too smooth and clean. But otherwise, it looks excellent.
Almost meant to be together with the Moon Inn.
1000% love this
Already supported, such a lovely build. Probably a bit tough with the moon-gazing inn coming out, and the pricing on this would likely be at least $300. I do love me some Ninja additions, as I'm working on collecting that original theme.
Very nice work, distractedBuilder, would love to add this to my ninjas!
@ToysFromTheAttic said:
"I like the general look of this and it would be nice to get on non-European castle for a change. I do feel the rock foundation is a bit too smooth and clean. But otherwise, it looks excellent."
Agreed, I noticed the base immediately and feel this looks spectacular otherwise. I would still get it in a heartbeat and have voted for it (plus the Paradisa Hotel) but would probably mod the base slightly.
I feel a simple ‘off-centred’ brick formation at the base similar to the cafe corner roof or the fries atop the recent fries food truck would be the only thing needing changing to make it totally perfect, and hope if this doesn’t succeed this time then DistractedBuilder makes that change and resubmits next time.
I would probably like it better if it had some generic karate-man standing on the rooftop, demanding I defeat his dragon punch in order to "stand a chance". A chance at what? A chance at WHAT, karate-man? Your motivations are not adequately explained to me!
@BrickWorks said:
" @ToysFromTheAttic said:
"I like the general look of this and it would be nice to get on non-European castle for a change. I do feel the rock foundation is a bit too smooth and clean. But otherwise, it looks excellent."
Agreed, I noticed the base immediately and feel this looks spectacular otherwise. I would still get it in a heartbeat and have voted for it (plus the Paradisa Hotel) but would probably mod the base slightly.
I feel a simple ‘off-centred’ brick formation at the base similar to the cafe corner roof or the fries atop the recent fries food truck would be the only thing needing changing to make it totally perfect, and hope if this doesn’t succeed this time then DistractedBuilder makes that change and resubmits next time. "
Feels like you could grab some of the old Ninja printed slopes and insert them, though they'd be old dark gray.
@dimc said:
" @BrickWorks said:
" @ToysFromTheAttic said:
"I like the general look of this and it would be nice to get on non-European castle for a change. I do feel the rock foundation is a bit too smooth and clean. But otherwise, it looks excellent."
Agreed, I noticed the base immediately and feel this looks spectacular otherwise. I would still get it in a heartbeat and have voted for it (plus the Paradisa Hotel) but would probably mod the base slightly.
I feel a simple ‘off-centred’ brick formation at the base similar to the cafe corner roof or the fries atop the recent fries food truck would be the only thing needing changing to make it totally perfect, and hope if this doesn’t succeed this time then DistractedBuilder makes that change and resubmits next time. "
Feels like you could grab some of the old Ninja printed slopes and insert them, though they'd be old dark gray. "
If I spent 300 bucks on a castle (or whatever this one will cost) it should come with the pieces it needs to have. ':-)
But I agree with @BrickWorks. It's almost there, but needs a few slight tweaks to be perfect.
This is a fantastic looking set and I would love to have it in my collection
I actually didn't like the previous Japanese castles so much (but still have plenty of Ninjago and 5 of 6093) because they didn't seem to catch the real feeling of a Japanese castle with the stone base and wooden-framed upper sections or the layout. I think this one solves all those problems. it's brilliant and beautiful!! Excellent job!
It's quite a cool set, though having a gate between the tenshu and the secondary tower makes absolutely no sense, as those would be surrounded by either a wall or a moat (or both). And the actual gates often tend to be some of the more impressive structures of the castle, so it would have been cool to have seen that replicated in this set. Or what would probably have made more sense is to have the other building be a turret, connected with a short hallway or even just a wall in between. That's a layout that is quite common in Japanese castles.
But to me the biggest problem for this set is not the set itself. It's the 21060 Himeji Castle. Sure, that's not minifig scale, but it is a much more accurate depiction of a Japanese castle, and at a much lower price.
For this to work as a minifig scaled set, I can't help but feel it should have been much bigger. And thus too big for BDP. Maybe would be a good idea for Bluebrixx for when they are finally done extending Burg Blaustein? ;-)
Absolutely gorgeous, I think it works great on a minifigure scale (and the minifigure scale is my favorite).
Supported!