Osaka Castle in Osaka is best known as the castle built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The stone walls seen today were rebuilt by the Tokugawa shogunate in the Edo period, and the present keep is a concrete reconstruction from the Showa era.
History
Toyotomi Hideyoshi began building the castle in 1583 on the former site of the Ishiyama Hongan-ji temple. When the Toyotomi clan fell in the Siege of Osaka of 1614-15, the castle burned; the Tokugawa shogunate then built a new castle on the site. In the Edo period it served as a base for the shogunate's control of western Japan. The present keep was reconstructed in 1931 with donations from citizens.
Highlights
- Huge stones in the walls around Sakuramon Gate
- A wide castle area surrounded by inner and outer moats
- Views of the Osaka skyline from the keep
Map
Sources
- 公益財団法人日本城郭協会 日本100名城一覧 / retrieved 2026-09-30
- Wikidata（座標）（CC0） / retrieved 2026-09-30
- Wikipedia「大阪城」（参照）（CC BY-SA 4.0） / retrieved 2026-09-30
- Photo: Osaka Castle 03bs3200.jpg（663highland / CC BY 2.5）
