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Osaka Castle (大坂城・大阪城; ''Ōsaka-jō'') is a castle in Chuo-ku , Osaka , Japan . Originally called ''Ozakajo'', it is one of Japan's most famous castles, and played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century.

The castle is situated on a plot of land roughly one kilometer square. It is built on two raised platforms of landfill supported by sheer walls of cut rock, each overlooking a Moat . The central castle building is five stories on the outside and eight stories on the inside, and built atop a tall stone foundation to protect its occupants from sword-bearing attackers.


TODAY

The castle is open to the public, and is easily accessible from Osakajo Koen Station on the JR Osaka Loop Line . It is a popular spot during festival seasons, and especially during the Cherry Blossom bloom, when the sprawling castle grounds are covered with food vendors and Taiko drummers.

The grounds also house a museum, convention hall, and the Toyokuni Shrine dedicated to Toyotomi Hideyoshi.


HISTORY

  • on the sides of the tower to impress visitors.

  • 1585 : Inner donjon completed. Toyotomi continued to extend and expand the castle, making it more and more formidable to attackers.

  • .

  • defeated Hideyori's armies at the Battle Of Sekigahara , and started his own Bakufu in Edo.

  • . Although the Toyotomi forces were outnumbered 2 to 1, they managed to fight off Tokugawa's 200,000-man army and protect the castle's outer walls. However, Tokugawa attempted to muzzle Toyotomi by filling up the castle's outer moat, rendering it largely defenseless.

  • . Osakajo fell to Tokugawa, and the Toyotomi clan perished.

  • , and bear inscribed crests of the various families who laid them into the walls.

  • 1665 : Lightning strikes burned down the main tower.

  • 1843 : After decades of neglect, the castle got much-needed repairs when the bakufu collected money from the people of the region to rebuild several of the turrets.

  • . Under the Meiji government, Osaka Castle was converted to a barracks for Japan's rapidly-expanding Western-style military.

  • 1928 : The main tower was restored after the mayor of Osaka concluded a highly successful fund-raising drive.

  • 1945 : Bombing raids on Osaka damaged the reconstructed main tower.

  • 1995 : Osaka's government approved yet another restoration project, with the intent of restoring the main tower to its Edo-era splendor.

  • 1997 : Restoration was completed.



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