I thought I could “take up” the Osaka Castle in one post; turns out I was (gleefully) wrong. Trips to places like these always remind me how, when I was younger, I was such a sucker for history. Somewhere along the way, that kinda left me. But being reminded in spurts – and major spurts, too! – isn’t such a bad thing, though, because it makes me remember parts of myself I once thought were long forgotten. After wandering around a bit outside, it’s time to step inside the Main Tower of the Osaka Castle.
Just as a bit of a background.
The Main Tower of the Osaka Castle was originally completed in 1585 by Hideyoshi Toyotomi, but it was burnt down during the Summer War of Osaka in 1615. Tokugawa rebuilt it in 1626, but it was again destroyed by lightning in 1665. For the third time, it was rebuilt, thanks to the initiative of Osaka City citizens. They pooled their donations and so had it rebuilt in 1931, modeled after the original design by Toyotomi. (And, contrary to what the movies tell you, no, Godzilla DID NOT destroy the Castle.)
The Main Tower occupies roughly one square kilometer of the entire Osaka Castle Park, built on a raised patch of land, surrounded by moats and gardens, protected by stone walls and citadels.
So what is inside the Main Tower? It houses the Osaka Castle Museum, much of which is all about Hideyoshi Toyotomi. It has a total of 8 floors, with the top floor (8th floor) as the Observation Deck.
Entrance to the Main Tower requires an admission ticket, which costs 600yen for adults. If you are aged 15 or below, admission is free. There are also discounts for groups of 15 or more.
When we got there, there were banners indicating that 2014-2015 is the 400th anniversary of The War of the Toyotomi and Tokugawa Clans. (1615 was when the Castle was destroyed by Tokugawa, and Toyotomi’s lineage ended after he committed suicide with his mother in the Castle grounds.)
Right before entering the Main Tower, you’d have to climb a series of steps, and you’ll pass by the Kimmeisu Well Roof, one of the 13 major structures of the Osaka Castle.
It is, well, a roof that covers the Kimmeisu Well. The roof was built in 1626 during Tokugawa’s time, and you still see it now. Yes, that is the roof that was built back in 1626, managing to survive fires and air raids and attacks.
This is the Kimmeisu Well itself, which was covered by the roof pictured above. It’s quite a deep well, with the “distance to the water surface measuring about 33 meters”. What makes it even more special is how its well curb was “carved out of one stone”. How they did that… I could only guess.
By the doors is a Signal Gun or Noon Marker. (Let me just take a moment to coo over these two cuties in specs. ….. Ok, done.)
The sign says that this is an “ancient muzzle-loading cannon of 348 cm or 137 inches in its overall length, and 40 cm or 15.7 inches in the outer diameter, and 20 cm or 7.85 inches in its bore, with base material probably made of a sort of bronze”.
The Tokugawa government ordered its manufacture in 1863 and had been originally used during the 3rd phase of the Meiji Restoration (in 1870) as a time-signalling gun, when it was always fired three times a day. In 1874, during the Meiji 7th, it became a noon marker, fired at noontime. It’s no longer in use today, except as a relic of the past.
Guests have two options: take the elevator, or take the stairs.
If you take the stairs, there is only one set going up. There is another set going down. And you can pass through all the floors going up to the Observation Deck.
If you take the elevator, it will bring you straight up to the Observation Deck or the 7th Floor, then you’d have to work your way down.
My friend’s feet were killing her (so were mine). But I saw the queue for the elevator, and I was on a major mind-over-matter kick that time, to painful feet be damned, I took the stairs; she took the elevator. Haha!
Ok, so 1st floor is where the elevator was, and it is also where you can find the information center and museum shop. There is also a movie theater there supposedly, but I went straight up to the next floor so I didn’t really see it. I doubt they’d have shown Aiba’s “Miracle” there, though. *snickers*
One side had this section. That is a portrait of Toyotomi Hideyoshi at the Tea Arbor in Fushimi Castle. Those are pamphlets and flyers you could get for free. Available in both English and Japanese. I think there were also Korean pamphlets there.
You’d also pass by this installation before taking the stairs. These are two replicas.
The first is a replica of the shachi-gawara, a legendary male dolphin-like fish. The original pair of shachi-gawara is at the top roof, which I’ll show you later. This full-scale replica is made of fiber-reinforced plastic.
Beside it is a replica of the fusetora, a “tiger watching for game”. This is a full-scale replica of eight tigers applied or carved in relief to the walls of the castle, from east to west.
On the 2nd floor is where you get to see history “at a glance”, with display panels. They were quite an engrossing read, but I kept reminded that I don’t have a lot of time, and I still have 6 floors to explore, so…
Still, I was fascinated by the attention to detail, particularly in the stone walls and enclosures. Apparently, they used a method called nozura-zumi in piling the stones, which pretty much rendered it indestructible and standing 4 centuries-strong. Succeeding excavations were also documented in the panels.
The second floor also had a “Replica Photo Spot” where guests could wear traditional costumes and have their photos taken. There’s a mini-Tokugawa (or is it Toyotomi?) right there, looking fiercely cute, if at all possible. And no, I’m not referring to the one on the left.
Unfortunately, the third and fourth levels do not allow photography, probably because of the sensitive nature (and state) of the contents. I also had a major attack of conscience and obedience and decided to follow the rules, so I kept my camera turned off. See? I could be a good girl, too.
So, the 3rd floor had displays regarding the history of the Castle during the Edo period. There were also historical artifact selections, such as that of the clothes of the warriors, from the Shogun to the lowly foot soldiers, as well as their head gears, their shields and their weapons. I tell you, they were sooooo sooooo badass. And it pained me not to be able to take photos of them.
There were also two models at the second floor: Toyotomi’s Osaka Castle and Tokugawa’s Osaka Castle. It was fun trying to point out the differences.
Up on the 4th level, photography is still not allowed, were more artifacts on display. There was also a more detailed coverage on the reconstruction of the Osaka Castle by the Tokugawa Shogunate.
Finally, I can take photos again! On the 5th floor, I think this is where I spent the longest time. I call this the “War Room”. Or War Floor. That works, too.
An entire wall was lined with these display panels or “folding screens”. They are moving display panels lit up, depicting the key battles involving the Osaka Castle, with running commentary in Japanese. It’s like watching anime, sans movement. 🙂 But moving nonetheless.
One wall showed detailed documentation of the generals involved in the Summer War of Osaka.
This here is a miniature of The Summer War of Osaka. This involves the battle between the troops of Yukimura Sanada and Tadanao Matsudaira.
The miniature had a scale of 1/20 and featured 307 bodies.
This miniature depicts a scene in front of the West Stone Gate of Shitennoji Temple (yes, that temple I visited the day before). Yukimura Sanada was Toyotomi’s bravest general, and his troops used red banners and armors. Of course we all knew how this battle ended, with the Tokugawa troops winning, but Sanada still put up more than a good fight.
Tadanao Matsudaira, on the other hand, is a grandson of Ieyasu Tokugawa himself. He was known to be the first to be able to lead his troops into entering Osaka Castle, beheading around 3,750 Toyotomi soldiers in the process. You could say that the clash of these two troops pretty much represented the whole summer war of Osaka.
I was so fascinated by the detail put into the miniatures, from the costumes to the facial expressions of the soldiers. I’ve only ever seen these in the few taiga dramas I managed to catch (Yoshitsune, anyone?), and maaaaan, it was soooo cool.
One section also showed the banners of the warlords/generals during the Summer War, as well as historic sites all over Osaka during that war.
On the seventh floor were dioramas depicting key times in Toyotomi’s life. The mini-dioramas had various audio options for Japanese, English and, if my memory serves me right, Korean and Chinese.
One of the mini-dioramas is the Karakuri Taiko-ki, an account of the life of Hideyoshi Toyotomi, starting from his birth, to his growth, to his rule, and to his death. It’s an entire wall of mini-screens. What a good way to give a history lesson, especially to Japanese children who do not have patience to read everything off textbooks.
If you want to trace the Toyotomi family tree, here’s your chance.
Finally I got up to the Observation Deck, which is 50 meters above the ground. It gives you a 360-degree view of the Osaka Castle Park and the city beyond. From this vantage point you could immediately see the demasugata or the “Marked Stones Square” and the inner moat beside it. There’s the half of the pair of shachi-gawara or male dolphin-shaped fish. It’s hiding the Gokurakubashi or Gokuraku Bridge we passed by earlier.
Testing out the zoom of my camera here, from the North side of the Main Tower. Ooooooover there is the Crystal Tower, the blue building. The two white similar-looking buildings to the right are the Twin21 Buildings, comprised of the OBP Panasonic Tower (the one on the left) and the MID Tower (right). At the foot of the Twin21 Building, with those rows of trees, is the Osaka Business Park.
The Crystal Tower has 37 floors, and is deemed to be one of the more beautiful skyscrapers in Osaka. Just look at the reflections against it! It houses commercial offices.
The OBP Panasonic Tower has 38 floors and has Panasonic’s headquarters and showrooms. Also with 38 floors, its twin, the MID Tower, is a high-rise of offices of blue-chip corporations and consulates.
Moving on to the West side, you can zoom in and see the NHK Broadcasting Station, the national and only public broadcasting company in Japan. It’s the tallest one in this pic, with the unique roof.
To its left, the building with a narrow triangular glass facade, is the Osaka Museum of History. The low and white building in front of it is the Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters.
Here’s a closer look at the shachi-gawara on the south side. The one earlier was on the north side.
These dolphins were originally put in place as roof embellishments when Toyotomi first constructed the castle. But they were only repaired in 1996.
These were cast in bronze and covered with a total of 360 pieces of gold leaf applications, glued together in three layers. Its height is 2.19m and has a width of 75cm. From front to back, it measures 1.10m. It weighs a hefty 400kg (gasp!). 
Also visible from the Observation Deck is the East Outer Moat. See the small red-roofed structure on the right side? That’s the Japanese Apricot Garden. Beyond the moat, the one with so many trees, is Forest Park. Beside it is the playground, where you can still spot many Santas.
It was painful, but we had to slowly make our way out of the Main Tower because we still have to go back to Shin-Osaka to take the shinkansen so we can arrive in Kyoto before it gets too dark. I think, by this time, it was already close to 2pm.
Osaka Castle is so steeped in history. What I appreciated most about it is how it could’ve been turned into one tragic tale of fellowman fighting against each other but, to me, it became more like a display of endurance over the ages and trials that came down on this patch of earth in the heart of Osaka City. I can totally see this standing 100, 200 years from now, its stone walls tall and proud, and the turrets still rising thunderously against the blue sky. Beautiful, Osaka. Simply awe-inspiring.