Japan: Osaka Castle

Osaka Castle (大坂城) was the first castle I visited in Japan and I was really looking forward to it. I imagined myself in the pages of James Clavell’s Shogun. I then discovered the castle was destroyed (several times over the course of history), and the present building is a concrete reconstruction. The scenes from the Shogun mini series were actually shot at Himeji Castle.

Osaka Castle is full of history. It was constructed over a number of years (1583-1597) by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. It was the location for the infamous Siege of Osaka when Tokugawa Ieyasu defeated his final opponent and became the first Shogun of Japan. The entire Toyotomi clan perished and the castle was burned to the ground.

The castle was then reconstructed as a 5 storey main keep (8 storeys internally) with walls contributed by samurai clans (some of which still stand today). The castle did not have a fortunate history, it was burned down several times by lightning strikes, and most of the castle was burned during the Meiji Restoration.

Under the Meiji government, the castle became part of the Osaka Army Arsenal and and during World War II became one of Japan’s largest military armory with 60,000 workers. It was the target of American bombing raids and finally in 1945 pretty much most of it was destroyed.

It has been restored to a facsimile of what it would have looked it during the Edo period, but it is a thoroughly modern building built in concrete and feature elevators connecting the floors. Today it is a museum.

When we visited, we saw some cute kids dressed in samurai outfits, plus a fire eating man. On our way back, we passed through Osaka Castle Park and saw a group of young men playing.