Osaka Castle

The other day we headed to Osaka Castle before a visit with Naomi's friend. We didn't spend as much time as we did at other ones due to having to be at lunch for 1pm but we still covered a fair amount.

Here are a couple shots from Osaka station. This place, like Kyoto, is BIG. How people ever know where they are going I don't have a clue.

After transferring to another train we arrived at Osaka Castle station. Right after getting into the station there is this neat little model of Osaka Castle and the park surrounding as it is now (you can even see the little gift shop near the castle!)

On the walls neat the exit they had this lovely art on all sides.

Once outside this is the view heading towards the castle. It is probably a little more left out of frame. 

One of the lovely manhole covers in the park. It seems a lot of the castles do this. I love it.

It is about a 10min walk to the castle once you exit the station. Naomi said that this place used to be full of homeless people but none were to be seen. Could be because of the cold season or an effort has been made to..'clean it up'. 

We found these statues near a concert hall. No clue what they are. Or for.

First sighting of the main keep! Already very impressive in size.

 And here we are at the outer moat. These walls go back to the 1600's when the castle was built, for the second time (more on that later!)

To get over the first moat there isn't really a bridge, just more of a big path over it. You would then go through the large main gate (which I have no picture of as it was totally covered over and having repair work, or something, done on it). These are just some pictures a long that route.

The gate is just to the left of this picture.

After passing through you are at the inner moat! Even in December there was one nice red tree just managing to hang in for a nice splash of colour. 

A shot of the main keep and Gokurakubashi Bridge, which you pass over to enter the main grounds.

Lets stop here for some history, as it is bloody and disaster filled. First off, everything here, other than the stone walls, is new. New as in from 1960+. The keep you see above has come and gone, and come and gone again! 

It started in 1583. Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a born peasant who rose to become a general for Oda Nobunaga, began construction of the castle on the ruins of the old Ishiyama Hongan temple (which was destroyed by Nobunaga in 1580). He planned to have this castle mirror Nobunaga's but surpassed it in every way. After his death his son took over. In 1614, the Shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu laid siege to Osaka castle, which fell just under a year later. This ended the Toyotomi family. The heir to the Shogunite began to reconstruct and upgrade the castle in 1620 (these walls as I mentioned are here today). 

In 1660 lightning hit and ignited the gunpowder warehouse setting the keep on fire. In 1665 lightning, once again, struck the main tower and burnt it to the ground. Not until 1843, after years of neglect, did at least part of the castle get rebuilt. This time it was only turrets along the walls. 

In 1868 castle was attacked and fell to imperial loyalists. Most of the castle was burned down over the following years. In 1928, the main keep was once again rebuilt by the mayor of Osaka after a very successful fundraising campaign. During WW2 it was used as an arsenal and became one of the largest in the country employing 60,000 people. This obviously made it a target for allied bombing raids which by the end of the war had destroyed 90% of the arsenal including the main tower.

Only in 1995 was it decided to once again rebuilt the tower keep. Much like the castle in Hiroshima I visited last time, the inside is simply a big concrete structure functioning as a modern museum. However, the outside is certainly a beauty to behold and is modeled after how it would have looked in the 1600's.

Now back to the pictures! Charles was off and running to get to the castle. 

Here is a shot after the bridge. These walls are huge!

As I mentioned the walls are original. When the castle was upgraded by the to be Shogunite, he had a bunch of different clans build these walls. Each clan has a large stone with their crest carved in it in this courtyard and this plaque shows who is who. 

A view from on top of one of the walls showing the inner moat.

Getting closer!

The final path up to the bottom of the keep.

5 stories tall this is a very big castle. 

This a view from the side. 

And finally some views from the front.

Once you pay your entrance fee you can head up to the castle itself. Outside the door sits an old signal gun from the late 1800's.

And here be Charles standing on a small wall just outside the door.

Sadly, once inside, you realize photos are not permitted! Well, not of the actual cool stuff, which are on the 2nd and 3rd floor. That housed katanas, spears, armour and even a Japanese made flintlock gun! As well as other various documents art and old clothing. The other floors that had pictures allowed really just showed history through videos. It did have one big model diorama which I did however get some pictures of. It depicts the battle between the Shogun and Toyotomi.

The top floor offers a lovely view of the city.  Sadly this big ugly net also covers it (pretty sure it is to keep birds out). I can see how in the spring and summer the sights must be amazing with all the trees blooming. 

These are some of the huge decorations you see on the castle in various spots.

And that wraps it up! We spent some time looking at souvenirs, picked up a few (if you want you can buy replica samurai armour for about 30 grand!), shared a cookie n cream ice cream cone and then headed off! There was probably some more to see on the grounds but as I mentioned we were pressed for time. 

What's up next? Well, that remains to be seen!