The Most Beautiful Castle

The eight-floor tall bright white coloured with its golden ornaments and the greenish copper roof is a stunning sight. It is one of our favourite castles popularly known as Osaka Castle, or Osaka-jo, as it is called in Japanese, is one of Japan’s most famous attractions and well worth a visit. More than 2,5 million people visit Osaka Castle every year.

General Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537 – 1598) constructed the castle in 1583 as a centre of the newly unified Japan. The castle only took three years to complete as over 100,000 workers contributed. During the Tokugawa conquest, Osaka Castle was burnt to the ground. Tokugawa Hidetada, the second shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty, reconstructed Osaka Castle in 1620. Osaka Castle got hit by lightning in 1660, which ignited the gunpowder warehouse, resulting in an explosive fire that burnt down much of the castle. It got repaired in 1843, just to be burned down again in 1868 in a civil conflict. The Osaka Castle that you see here today is a rebuild from 1931, back when used as a military arsenal. It was attacked by the American forces during World War II resulting in the main tower being totally destroyed again. The entire castle underwent a full makeover after World War II where they rebuilt the main tower. The total restoration was finished in 1997. Osaka Castle is now brighter and shinier than ever before.

This impressive castle also happens to be one of Japan’s most iconic landmarks along with cherry blossoms, Mt. Fuji, Shinto shrines, and geishas. Osaka Castle is one of Osaka’s best-loved landmarks, presenting Japanese architectural and cultural quintessence. The inside of the castle is very modern, but the exterior architecture remains in the traditional style. The five-story main tower featured an exterior covered in gold leaf and ornaments, designed to impress visitors and demoralize enemies. The castle opens at 9:00 a.m. and is easy to reach from downtown Osaka. The current incarnation of Osaka Castle has many attractions that can’t be found at other original castles. The castle looks magnificent against the city skyline.

Osaka Castle is surrounded by an inside moat and an outside moat and is located inside a large park, called Osaka Castle Park. There are about 100 different varieties of plum trees and about 1,300 trees are planted here. Some are white, some are pink and others are violet. The plum forest can be found on the east side of the inside moat. And when April starts, Osaka Castle Park is surrounded by beautiful cherry blossoms. There are about 4,000 cherry trees on the premises.