Osaka Castle

Osaka Castle is one of the greatest of Japanese castles and while the central keep is famous for being a concrete reconstruction, the castle is huge and still has much of the original stonework and fortifications.

These photos are from my first visit to the castle area more than twenty years ago, and while I didn't go into the castle at this time as I was more interested in the modern architecture in the surrounding area, the stonework of Japanese castles fascinated me.

Construction of the castle began in 1583 by Hideyoshi and it was built on the site of a fortified temple complex that was burned to the ground at the end of an 11 year siege by Oda Nobunaga.

In 1614 the castle was the last stronghold of Hideyoshi's son against the Tokugawa and eventually fell.

In 1620, with plans to make Osaka the base for the new government the castle was dismantled and reconstructed into its current form, even grander and larger than the original.

The new keep was built in 1628 but was destroyed by lightning-caused fire in 1677 and was not rebuilt.

During the Meiji restoration and the later Boshin War various parts of the castle were damaged. In 1931 the keep was rebuilt in concrete.

During WWII Osaka Castle was an army base and major arsenal and suffered damage from bombing.

The keep was repaired and renovated in 1997.

A good spot to view the castle from above is the Osaka  Museum of History nearby.