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is a Japanese castle
Japanese castle

were fortresses composed primarily of wood and stone. They evolved from the wooden stockades of earlier centuries, and came into their most well-known form in the 16th century....
 in Chuo-ku
Chuo-ku, Osaka

, Osaka is one of 24 wards of Japan of Osaka, Japan. It has an area of 8.88 km?, and a population of 60,085. It houses Osaka's financial district, as well as the Osaka Prefecture offices and principal shopping and tourist areas....
, Osaka
Osaka

is a Cities of Japan in Japan, located at the mouth of the Yodo River on Osaka Bay, in the Kansai region of the main island of Honshu.Osaka is a City designated by government ordinance under the Local Autonomy Law and the capital city of Osaka Prefecture....
, Osaka Prefecture
Osaka Prefecture

is a Prefectures of Japan located in the Kinki region on Honshu, the main island of Japan. The capital is the city of Osaka, Osaka. It is the center of Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto area....
, Japan
Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
.

Originally called Ozakajo, it is one of Japan's most famous castles, and played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century of the Azuchi-Momoyama period
Azuchi-Momoyama period

The came at the end of the Sengoku period in Japan, when the political unification that preceded the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate took place....
. Osaka Castle is situated on a plot of land roughly one kilometer square. It is built on two raised platforms of landfill supported by sheer walls of cut rock, using a technique called Burdock piling
Burdock piling

Burdock piling is a technique of Japanese wall building used to build castles, such as Osaka Castle and named after the resemblance to the Japanese burdock plant....
, each overlooking a moat
Moat

A moat is deep, broad trench, usually filled with water, that surrounds a structure, installation, or town, normally to provide it with a preliminary line of Defense ....
.






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is a Japanese castle
Japanese castle

were fortresses composed primarily of wood and stone. They evolved from the wooden stockades of earlier centuries, and came into their most well-known form in the 16th century....
 in Chuo-ku
Chuo-ku, Osaka

, Osaka is one of 24 wards of Japan of Osaka, Japan. It has an area of 8.88 km?, and a population of 60,085. It houses Osaka's financial district, as well as the Osaka Prefecture offices and principal shopping and tourist areas....
, Osaka
Osaka

is a Cities of Japan in Japan, located at the mouth of the Yodo River on Osaka Bay, in the Kansai region of the main island of Honshu.Osaka is a City designated by government ordinance under the Local Autonomy Law and the capital city of Osaka Prefecture....
, Osaka Prefecture
Osaka Prefecture

is a Prefectures of Japan located in the Kinki region on Honshu, the main island of Japan. The capital is the city of Osaka, Osaka. It is the center of Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto area....
, Japan
Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
.

Originally called Ozakajo, it is one of Japan's most famous castles, and played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century of the Azuchi-Momoyama period
Azuchi-Momoyama period

The came at the end of the Sengoku period in Japan, when the political unification that preceded the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate took place....
. Osaka Castle is situated on a plot of land roughly one kilometer square. It is built on two raised platforms of landfill supported by sheer walls of cut rock, using a technique called Burdock piling
Burdock piling

Burdock piling is a technique of Japanese wall building used to build castles, such as Osaka Castle and named after the resemblance to the Japanese burdock plant....
, each overlooking a moat
Moat

A moat is deep, broad trench, usually filled with water, that surrounds a structure, installation, or town, normally to provide it with a preliminary line of Defense ....
. The central castle building is five stories on the outside and eight stories on the inside, and built atop a tall stone foundation to protect its occupants from sword-bearing attackers.

The Castle grounds, which cover approximately contain thirteen structures which have been designated as Important Cultural Assets by the Japanese government, including the Toyokuni Shrine, dedicated to Toyotomi Hideyoshi
Toyotomi Hideyoshi

was a Sengoku period daimyo who unified Japan. He succeeded his former liege lord, Oda Nobunaga, and brought an end to the Sengoku period. The period of his rule is often called the Momoyama period, after Hideyoshi's castle....
.

The castle is open to the public, and is easily accessible from Osakajokoen Station
Osakajokoen Station

is a train station on the West Japan Railway Company Osaka Loop Line in Joto-ku, Osaka, Osaka, Japan. The station name translates as Osaka Castle Park....
 on the JR West Osaka Loop Line
Osaka Loop Line

The is a railway line in Japan operated by West Japan Railway Company . It encircles central Osaka.The second loop line, the Osaka Higashi Line, from Hanaten Station to Kyuhoji Station was opened on March 15, 2008, and the line from Shigino Station to Shin-Osaka Station is planned to open in 2012....
. It is a popular spot during festival seasons, and especially during the cherry blossom
Sakura

Sakura is the Japanese language name for cherry trees, and their blossoms. In English, the word "sakura" is equivalent to the Japanese flowering cherry, and their blossoms are commonly called cherry blossoms....
 bloom (hanami
Hanami

is the Japanese traditional convention of enjoying the beauty of flowers, "flower" in this case almost always meaning , or . From late March to early May, sakura bloom all over Japan....
), when the sprawling castle grounds are covered with food vendors and taiko
Taiko

means "drum" in Japanese language . Outside Japan, the word is often used to refer to any of the various Japanese drums and to the relatively recent art-form of ensemble taiko drumming ....
 drummers. The large indoor arena Osaka-jo Hall
Osaka-jo Hall

, or Osaka Castle Hall, is a large, multipurpose indoor arena in the Kyobashi area of Osaka, Japan. It is used for some sports, such as judo championships, and is popular for concerts with many international pop music and rock music acts....
 is also located within the grounds of the castle.

History

Osaka Castle Otemon and Sengann Yagura
Hideyoriyodojijinm0678
  • 1583: Toyotomi Hideyoshi
    Toyotomi Hideyoshi

    was a Sengoku period daimyo who unified Japan. He succeeded his former liege lord, Oda Nobunaga, and brought an end to the Sengoku period. The period of his rule is often called the Momoyama period, after Hideyoshi's castle....
     commenced construction on the site of the Ikko-ikki
    Ikko-ikki

    The Japanese , literally "single-minded leagues", were mobs of peasant farmers, monks, Shinto priests and ji-samurai, who rose up against samurai rule in the 15th and 16th centuries....
     temple of Ishiyama Hongan-ji
    Ishiyama Hongan-ji

    For other uses, see Ishiyama .The was the primary fortress of the Ikko-ikki, mobs of warrior monks and peasants who opposed samurai rule....
    . The basic plan was modeled after Azuchi Castle
    Azuchi Castle

    was one of the primary castles of Oda Nobunaga. It was built from 1576 to 1579, on the shores of Lake Biwa, in Omi Province. Nobunaga intentionally built it close enough to Kyoto that he could watch over and guard the approaches to the capital, but, being outside the city, his fortress would be immune to the fires and conflicts that occas...
    , the headquarters of Oda Nobunaga
    Oda Nobunaga

    was a major daimyo during the Sengoku period of History of Japan. He was the second son of Oda Nobuhide, a deputy shugo with land holdings in Owari province....
    . Toyotomi wanted to build a castle that mirrored Oda's, but surpassed it in every way: the plan featured a five-story main tower, with three extra stories underground, and gold leaf on the sides of the tower to impress visitors.
  • 1585: Inner donjon completed. Toyotomi continued to extend and expand the castle, making it more and more formidable to attackers.
  • 1598: Construction completed. Hideyoshi died. Osaka Castle passed to his son, Toyotomi Hideyori
    Toyotomi Hideyori

    Toyotomi Hideyori , 1593 - June 5, 1615, was the son and designated successor of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the general who first united all of Japan....
    .
  • 1600: Tokugawa Ieyasu
    Tokugawa Ieyasu

    Japanese name|Tokugawa}} was the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan which ruled from the Battle of Sekigahara  in 1600 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868....
     defeated his opposers at the Battle of Sekigahara
    Battle of Sekigahara

    The , popularly known as the , was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 which cleared the path to the Shogunate for Tokugawa Ieyasu. Though it would take three more years for Ieyasu to consolidate his position of power over the Toyotomi clan and the daimyo, Sekigahara is widely considered to be the unofficial beginning of the Tokugawa shogunate,...
    , and started his own bakufu in Edo.
  • 1614: Tokugawa attacked Hideyori in the winter, starting the Siege of Osaka
    Siege of Osaka

    The was a series of battles undertaken by the Tokugawa shogunate against the Toyotomi clan, and ending in that clan's destruction. Divided into two stages , and lasting from 1614 to 1615, the siege put an end to the last major armed opposition to the shogunate's establishment....
    . Although the Toyotomi forces were outnumbered approximately 2 to 1, they managed to fight off Tokugawa's 200,000-man army and protect the castle's outer walls. However, Tokugawa attempted to muzzle Toyotomi by filling up the castle's outer moat, rendering it largely defenseless.
  • 1615: During the summer, Hideyori began to dig the outer moat once more. Tokugawa, in outrage, sent his armies to Osaka Castle again, and routed the Toyotomi men inside the outer walls on June 4. Osakajo fell to Tokugawa, and the Toyotomi clan
    Toyotomi clan

    During the Sengoku period in 16th century Japan, the began to thrive. Originating in Owari Province, the Toyotomi served as retainers to the Oda clan throughout the Sengoku period....
     perished.
  • 1620: The new heir to the shogunate, Tokugawa Hidetada
    Tokugawa Hidetada

    was the second shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate, who ruled from 1605 until his abdication in 1623. He was the third son of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of the Tokugawa bakufu....
    , began to reconstruct and rearm Osaka Castle. He built a new elevated main tower, five stories on the outside and eight stories on the inside, and assigned the task of constructing new walls to individual samurai clans. The walls built in the 1620s still stand today, and are made out of interlocked granite boulders with no mortar whatsoever; they are held together solely by each other. Many of the stones were brought from rock quarries in the Seto Inland Sea, and bear inscribed crests of the various families who laid them into the walls.
  • 1660: Lightning exploded the gunpowder warehouse. And, the castle surrounding set on fire.
  • 1665: Lightning strikes burned down the main tower.
  • 1843: After decades of neglect, the castle got much-needed repairs when the bakufu collected money from the people of the region to rebuild several of the turrets.
  • 1868: Much of the castle was burned in the civil conflicts surrounding the Meiji Restoration
    Meiji Restoration

    The , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, or Renewal, was a chain of events that led to enormous changes in Japan's political and social structure....
    . Under the Meiji government, Osaka Castle was converted to a barracks for Japan's rapidly-expanding Western-style military.
  • 1928: The main tower was restored after the mayor of Osaka concluded a highly successful fund-raising drive.
  • 1945: Bombing raids on Osaka damaged the reconstructed main tower.
  • 1995: Osaka's government approved yet another restoration project, with the intent of restoring the main tower to its Edo-era splendor.
  • 1997: Restoration was completed. The castle is a concrete reproduction (including elevators) of the original, although the interior does not resemble a Japanese castle at all.


Gallery: Castle in perspective

Panorama overview

Central tower

Moat and outer walls

Non-photographic images

Literature



See also

  • Edo Castle
    Edo Castle

    , also known as , is a flatland castle that was built in 1457 by Ota Dokan. It is located in Chiyoda, Tokyo in Tokyo, then known as Edo, Toshima District, Musashi Province....
  • Himeji Castle
    Himeji Castle

    is a flatland-mountain Japanese castle complex located in Himeji in Hyogo Prefecture and comprising 83 wooden buildings. It is occasionally known as Hakurojo or Shirasagijo because of its brilliant white exterior....


External links

  • WikiTravel:Osaka