I seek to explore the social history that gave rise to a distinct strain of Japanese architecture, built by and for warrior-elites, that evolved between the late fifteenth and early seventeenth century. How did class consciousness, gender, and outside cultures contribute to the creation and evolution of shoin-styled architecture, castle complexes, and imperial villas? Through an examination of the tensions and collaborations between provincial and urban warrior-elites, master carpenters, and courtiers, as well as the role of women and Western missionaries in the development of Japanese premodem elite architecture, I hope to gain a better understanding of the ways in which architectural spaces were adapted in response to evolutions in class structures and gender in the Japanese context.