Osaka Castle Nishinomaru Garden April 2005

is a

Japanese castle are fortresses constructed primarily of wood and stone. They evolved from the wooden stockades of earlier centuries, and came into their best-known form in the 16th century. Castles in Japan were built to guard important or strategic sites, suc ...

in Chūō-ku,

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

, Japan. The castle is one of Japan's most famous landmarks and it played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century of the Azuchi-Momoyama period.

Layout

The main tower of Osaka Castle is situated on a plot of land roughly one square kilometre. It is built on two raised platforms of landfill supported by sheer walls of cut rock, using a technique called

burdock piling is an advanced Japanese technique for building stone walls, named after the resemblance of the rough stones used to the ovate shapes of the blossoms of Japanese burdock plants.

, each overlooking a

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

. 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 attackers. The Main Tower is surrounded by a series of moats and defensive fortifications. The castle has 2 moats (an inner & outer). The inner castle moat lies within the castle grounds, and consists of 2 types: a wet (northern-easterly) and dry (south-westerly). Outer moat meanwhile surrounds the entire castle premise, denotes the castle's outer limits, and consists of 4 individual water-filled sections, each representing a cardinal direction (North, East, South, West). The castle grounds, which cover approximately 61,000 square metres (15 acres), contain the following thirteen structures that were denoted as “important cultural assets” by the Japanese government: *Ote-mon Gate *Sakura-mon Gate *Ichiban-yagura Turret *Inui-yagura Turret *Rokuban-yagura Turret *Sengan Turret *Tamon Turret *Kinmeisui Well *Kinzo Storehouse *Enshogura Gunpowder Magazine *Three sections of castle wall all located around Otemon Gate *Megaliths at the castle include the

Octopus stone The octopus stone, ''Taiko-ishi'' 蛸石 (also called "Drum Rock") is a large stone at Osaka Castle in Japan. The stone is near Sakura Gate. It is one of the largest of several megalith A megalith is a large stone that has been used to ...

. The outer moat has two main sentry checkpoints: the Aoyamon Gate (in the north-east) and the Otemon Gate (in the opposing south-west). Between the outer and inner moat are the following: Fushimi-yagura Turret Remains, Ensho-gura Gunpowder Storehouse, Osaka Geihinkan, Hoshoan Tea House, Osaka Castle Nishinomaru Garden, Sengan-yagura Turret, Tamon-yagura Turret, Remains of Taiko-yagura Turret, Osaka Shudokan Martial Arts Hall, Hokoku Shrine (Osaka), Ichiban-yagura Turret (The first turret), and Plum Grove. There are two places to cross the inner moat, Gokuraku-bashi Bridge (located in the North) and Sakuramon Gate (main sentry point in the South). Within the inner moat, the castle was divided into two major areas: the Hommaru (Inner Bailey) and the Yamazato-Maru Bailey. Located within the Hommaru is the Main Tower, the Kimmeisui Well, the Japanese Garden, the Takoishi (Octopus Stone), the Gimmeisui Well, the Miraiza Osakajo Complex, the Kinzo Treasure House, and the "Timecapsule Expo'70". While within the Yamazato-Maru Bailey consists of the Marked-Stones Square, and the Monument commemorating 'Hideyori and Yodo-dono committing suicide'.

History

In 1583

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and '' daimyō'' ( feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the C ...

commenced construction on the site of the Ikkō-ikki temple of Ishiyama Hongan-ji. The basic plan was modeled after Azuchi Castle, the headquarters of

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese '' daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period. He is regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. Nobunaga was head of the very powerful Oda clan, and launched a war against other ''daimyō'' to unif ...

. Hideyoshi wanted to build a castle that mirrored Nobunaga's, but surpassed it in every way: the plan featured a five-story main tower, with three extra stories underground, and

gold leaf Gold leaf is gold that has been hammered into thin sheets (usually around 0.1 µm thick) by goldbeating and is often used for gilding. Gold leaf is available in a wide variety of karats and shades. The most commonly used gold is 22-karat ...

on the sides of the tower to impress visitors. In 1585 the Inner donjon was completed. Hideyoshi continued to extend and expand the castle, making it more and more formidable to attackers. In 1597 construction was completed and Hideyoshi died the year after. Osaka Castle passed to his son, Toyotomi Hideyori. In 1600

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fel ...

defeated his opponents at the

Battle of Sekigahara The Battle of Sekigahara ( Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 ( Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu prefecture, Japan, at the end of ...

, and started his own

bakufu , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakura ...

(i.e., shogunate) in Edo. In 1614 Tokugawa attacked Hideyori in the winter, starting the

Siege of Osaka The was a series of battles undertaken by the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate against the Toyotomi clan, and ending in that clan's destruction. Divided into two stages (winter campaign and summer campaign), and lasting from 1614 to 1615, the siege ...

. Although the Toyotomi forces were outnumbered approximately two to one, they managed to fight off Tokugawa's 200,000-man army and protect the castle's outer walls. Ieyasu had the castle's outer moat filled, negating one of the castle's main outer defenses. During the summer of 1615, Hideyori began to restore the outer moat. Ieyasu, in outrage, sent his armies to Osaka Castle again, and routed the Toyotomi men inside the outer walls on June 4. Osaka Castle fell to the

Tokugawa clan The is a Japanese dynasty that was formerly a powerful '' daimyō'' family. They nominally descended from Emperor Seiwa (850–880) and were a branch of the Minamoto clan (Seiwa Genji) through the Matsudaira clan. The early history of this cl ...

, the

Toyotomi clan The was a Japanese clan that ruled over the Japanese before the Edo period. Unity and conflict The most influential figure within the Toyotomi was Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of the three "unifiers of Japan". Oda Nobunaga was another primar ...

perished, Hideyori and

Yodo-dono or (1569 – June 4, 1615) was a prominently placed figure in the late- Sengoku period. She was the daughter of Oichi and sister of Ohatsu and Oeyo. She was a concubine and second wife of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who was then the most powerfu ...

committed seppuku and the castle buildings burned to the ground. In 1620, the new heir to the shogunate,

Tokugawa Hidetada was the second ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa dynasty, who ruled from 1605 until his abdication in 1623. He was the third son of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate. Early life (1579–1593) Tokugawa Hidetada was bo ...

, began to reconstruct and re-arm 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 without mortar. Many of the stones were brought from rock quarries near the

Seto Inland Sea The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū, three of the four main islands of Japan. It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to Osa ...

, and bear inscribed crests of the various families who contributed them. Construction of the 5 story '' tenshu'' started in 1628 and was completed 2 years later, about the same time the rest of the reconstruction, and followed the general layout of the original Toyotomi structure. In 1660, lightning ignited the gunpowder warehouse and the resulting explosion set the castle on fire. In 1665, lightning struck and burnt down the ''tenshu''. In 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. In 1868, Osaka Castle fell and was surrendered to anti-bakufu imperial loyalists. Much of the castle was burned in the civil conflicts surrounding the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were r ...

. Under the Meiji government, Osaka Castle became part of the Osaka Army Arsenal (''Osaka Hohei Kosho'') manufacturing guns, ammunition, and explosives for Japan's rapidly expanding Western-style military. In 1931, the ferroconcrete '' tenshu'' was built. During World War II, the arsenal became one of the largest military armories, employing 60,000 workers. American bombing raids targeting the arsenal damaged the reconstructed main castle tower and, on August 14, 1945, destroyed 90% of the arsenal and killed 382 people working there. In 1995, Osaka's government approved yet another restoration project, with the intent of restoring the main tower to its Edo-era splendor. In 1997, restoration was completed. The castle is a concrete reproduction (including elevators) of the original and the interior is intended as a modern, functioning museum.

Views of the castle

File:Osaka Castle Keep Tower in 201504 016.JPG, Osaka Castle at night File:Osaka Castle Keep Tower in 201504 001.JPG, Osaka Castle pedestrian entrance File:OsakaCastle 2007-3.jpg, Central tower File:OsakaCastleOtemonGate.jpg, Otemon (western) Gate File:Caron1663.jpg, Early representation of the destruction of the 1663 François Caron book File:Mythical Fish (2850634866).jpg, From the roof of Osaka Castle Main Tower File:大阪城天守閣と梅林 Plum Grove and Osaka Castle.jpg, Prunus mume Grove in Osaka Castle Park File:Osaka Castle Outer Moat and Osaka Business Park, November 2016.jpg, Outer Moat and Osaka Business Park File:Osaka-Castle-cherry-blossom-2018-Luka-Peternel.jpg, Cherry blossom at Osaka Castle File:Osaka-Castle-twilight-2016-Luka-Peternel.jpg, Osaka Castle during twilight File:Osaka castle tenshu.jpg, Tenshu of Osaka castle File:Château d'Osaka 1583 1615.jpg, Osaka Castle from 1583 til 1615 File:Château d'Osaka 1620 1868.jpg, Osaka Castle from 1620 til 1868 File:DCMI (1120).jpg, Outer-View of Aoyamon Gate File:DCMI (1119).jpg, Inner Moat Ramparts viewed from inner Aoyamon Gate File:DCMI (1114).jpg, Osakajo from Gokuraku Bashi (bridge) File:DCMI (1113).jpg, Osakajo from Marked Stone Square File:DCMI (1112).jpg, Osakajo from Uzumimon Gate File:DCMI (1110).jpg, View of Moat from atop Uzumimon Gate File:DCMI (1107).jpg, Osakajo from Miraiza Building File:DCMI (1106).jpg, Inner-View of Sakuramon Gate File:DCMI (1105).jpg, Easterly View of Dry inner Moat outside Sakuramon Gate File:DCMI (1115).jpg, Gozabune boat ferrying tourists around on the Inner Moat.

Access

The castle is open to the public and is easily accessible from Osakajōkōen Station on the

JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, and ...

Osaka Loop Line The is a railway loop line in Japan operated by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West). It encircles central Osaka. Part of a second, proposed outer loop line, the Osaka Higashi Line, from Hanaten to Kyuhoji was opened on March 15, 2008, a ...

. It is a popular spot during festival seasons, and especially during the

cherry blossom A cherry blossom, also known as Japanese cherry or sakura, is a flower of many trees of genus ''Prunus'' or ''Prunus'' subg. ''Cerasus''. They are common species in East Asia, including China, Korea and especially in Japan. They generally ...

bloom (

hanami is the Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the transient beauty of flowers; in this case almost always refer to those of the or, less frequently, trees. From the end of March to early May, cherry trees bloom all over Japan, and around ...

), when the sprawling castle grounds are covered with food vendors and

taiko are a broad range of Japanese percussion instruments. In Japanese, the term refers to any kind of drum, but outside Japan, it is used specifically to refer to any of the various Japanese drums called and to the form of ensemble drumming ...

drummers. The large indoor arena, Osaka-jō Hall, also is located within the grounds of the castle park.

In popular culture

* In the 1955

Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the produc ...

tokusatsu is a Japanese term for live action film or television drama that makes heavy use of practical special effects. ''Tokusatsu'' entertainment mainly refers to science fiction, war, fantasy, or horror media featuring such technology but is someti ...

film '' Godzilla Raids Again'', Godzilla's battle with Anguirus leads onto the castle grounds. The structure itself collapses when

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film '' Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produ ...

pins Anguirus against it. * in the 1966 tokusatsu film, Gamera vs. Barugon, the titular monsters' first encounter is at the site of the castle. * The castle appears in a two-parter of the iconic 1966

television series, '' Ultraman'' where the titular hero does battle with the monster Gomora on the castle grounds. * In 1975, British novelist

James Clavell James Clavell (born Charles Edmund Dumaresq Clavell; 10 October 1921 – 7 September 1994) was an Australian-born British (later naturalized American) writer, screenwriter, director, and World War II veteran and prisoner of war. Clavell is best ...

used the castle and its environs (circa 1600) as a major plot location for his most famous work of historical fiction, ''Shōgun''''. * The castle was featured in the finale of '' The Amazing Race 20'', where it hosted a Pit Stop.

References

Literature

Benesch, Oleg. "Castles and the Militarisation of Urban Society in Imperial Japan," ''Transactions of the Royal Historical Society'', Vol. 28 (Dec. 2018), pp. 107-134.
* * * * *

External links

* * {{Coord, 34, 41, 14, N, 135, 31, 33, E, region:JP_type:landmark, display=title Buildings and structures in Osaka Tourist attractions in Osaka Chūō-ku, Osaka Castles in Osaka Prefecture History museums in Japan Museums in Osaka Buildings and structures in Japan destroyed during World War II Rebuilt buildings and structures in Japan Special Historic Sites