One would easily realize how much they have been “duped” by fairy tales when their only concept of castles and palaces involve towering turrets where princesses are locked up, doing nothing but wait for a prince to rescue them. Welcome to the East, my friends. Castles aren’t all about that; but, right here, they are all THAT. (I wish that made sense for you, because it totally did for me.) For this entry, let me take you a bit around (outside) the imposing but highly impressive main keep of the Osaka Castle or, if we’re going to be really Japanese about it, Osaka-jo.
As mentioned in my earlier post, we got off at the Osakajokoen Station, walked past the playground and baseball field where the Osaka Great Santa Run 2014 was being conducted, and went past the Aoyamon Gate to have a quick pseudo-lunch surrounded by Santas of all shapes and sizes, with the view of the Osaka Castle tower right in front of us. We’re ready to go inside the keep and check it out. (You can refer to this map if I start becoming vague.)
So this is the Aoyamon Gate, which is on the north entrance of the Osaka Castle. It was estimated to have been built around 1620, and suffered massive damage over the following centuries. There was a huge fire in 1868, and then it was again bombed during the second World War, in 1945. This is basically a reconstruction, which was done in 1969, preserving much of the original design while giving it an update.
Once you move past the Aoyamon Gate, you will find yourself at a masugata or a square, which was strategically placed there to serve as a way to prevent the entry of enemies. Perfect place for an ambush, plus there’s a moat and a bridge between the square and the main keep of the castle. By the way, there are several of these squares in the area, as “masugata” literally means a “square surrounded by stone walls, built to guard against enemies”.
Off to the side of the Square was where the food stalls were placed, and where we had our (again, I say it) pseudo-lunch.
I admit to standing a bit in the middle of the square, mesmerized by the peeking castle. My friend was pretty much heading towards the food area, no doubt silently willing me to “hurry it up already, I’m hungry!”. Haha!
As an overview, the entire Osaka Castle Park spans almost 107 hectares and the Osaka Castle keep, with the Main Tower, occupies only a small part of it.
In 1570, Oda Nobunaga destroyed the Ishiyama Honganji Temple. In 1583, during the Toyotomi rule, Hideyoshi Toyotomi started construction of Osakajo on the site where the temple used to be, with plans of making it his stronghold and base of operations, and to make it the center of Japan under his rule.
But the Toyotomi rule didn’t last long because Tokugawa rule came on. Tokugawa Hidetada and his troops destroyed the castle in 1615 and rebuilt it – stronger than ever. Still, it has undergone damage and reconstruction over the years.
And then it’s time to enter the keep. Admission is free when you go inside. It’s only when you enter the structure itself (and the nearby gardens) that you’d have to pay an admission fee. (But we’ll get to that later.)
This, right here, is the Gokurakubashi or the Gokuraku Bridge. From this sight alone, you could tell that the Tokugawa-built castle was really constructed with defense in mind. It’s surrounded on all sides by moats (inner and outer, so that’s two layers of moat-defense right there), and tall, solid granite stone walls. The moats are no joke, either, because they are wide, around 70 to 90 meters.
Supposedly, the stone walls are at least 20 meters high and about 12 kilometers long. They always strike a major chord in the hearts of the Japanese because, despite the numerous damage suffered by the castle, the moats and the stone walls stood firm and strong.
I stood in the middle of the bridge, looked both sides, and was struck by how serene it was. There were even some ducks lazing around. I could only imagine how it was used centuries ego during the Tokugawa era. Phew.
Past the bridge, you’ll walk through an open-air passage that will bring you to another masugata square. This time, it is called the Yamazato-guchi-demasugata. It is also called the “Marked Stones Square”.
Demasugata literally means “protruding masugata“, since the square protrudes from the Hommaru (inner bailey) into the Yamazato-maru.
When you climb up these huge stone steps, you can look out over the moat, and check out the bridge you just crossed. And the city beyond. (and yes, you can even spot some of the Santas walking.)
From that spot on top of the stones, you can look behind you to get another magnificent view of the Main Tower. The area where the people are walking through leads to the Hommaru (inner bailey).
It’s a bit of a slope when you enter the Hommaru, and the whole time I forgot about any possibilities of having a crick in my neck, as I was too busy looking up.
Are these…. Japanese ginkgo leaves designed on the steel benches? I suppose they are.
And look who else came for a visit at the Castle! Aren’t they just precious~
From these photos, you would think that the place was relatively empty. Wrong. Haha! I just waited for opportune moments to NOT get shots of the many people in the area. There was also a bit of a queue at the ticket area (to get inside the Tower), and there are a few groups performing a bit off to the sides. It was, after all, a Sunday.
It would probably take a whole day to fully explore the whole place, from end to end and corner to corner. We didn’t have the luxury of time, so we just stuck to the key places. 
And I will take you inside the main tower of the Castle on my next entry. See ya then!
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