Osaka Castle

Sengan-yagura Turret

After sleeping in and enjoying an udon/tempura lunch, we headed off to Osaka-jo Park, a 270 acre, four hundred year old complex of castles, moats, turrets and 4,500 cherry trees.  An older Japanese lady from the Osaka Volunteer Guide Council greeted us in English, handed us a brochure, and urged us to tour the grounds "in order."  We're not sure we did that, but we do feel guilty if we didn't.  Here I am in front of the oldest surviving structure, a turret designed to protect the Otemon (main) gate.  The stone walls you see behind me are just as old, built between 1620 and 1629. 

Benjamin points at massive stones in Masugata Square

Osaka-jo has been built and rebuilt for 400 plus years.  One thing that hasn't moved are the massive stones used to build some of the walls. That stands to reason, as the largest weighs 108 tons.  Here Benjamin points in the general direction of two additional massive stones, imported from Okayama.  We're just outside the inner gate here, which was cleverly designed to trap anyone that had managed to get past the main gate.  Now what seemed like all of Osaka was flowing through this gate unimpeded, enjoying the cherry blossoms and a balmy weekend day. 

Ice cream break in front of the Main Tower

The most magnificent structure in the whole park is the Main Tower, originally built in 1626 before it burned down in 1665. The good news is that the present main tower was reconstructed in 1931, financed by donations from the citizens of Osaka.  I've read that it's mostly concrete, but it sure looks authentic to me.  Housed inside is a museum honoring the first castle builder, and feudal warlord, Hideyoshi Toyotomi.  He was born poor, the son of a farmer, and according to my Fodor's guidebook, was referred to as Mr. Monkey because he was "small and uncomely."  That didn't stop him from being the first warlord to unite all of Japan and end decades of civil war.