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Osaka Castle Park

Toyotomi Hideyoshi's Castle

Osaka Castle Park is centered around Osaka Castle's Tensho-kaku Tower, and contains a number of Edo period buildings, including the Sengan Turret, Tamon Turret and Otemon Gate. Osaka Castle Park covers an area of about 100 hectares and boasts extensive greenery, cherry blossoms, peach gardens and plum trees, making it a picturesque park throughout the year.

Osaka Castle Park is located in the heart of Osaka City and covers an area of approximately 100 hectares. On top of the stone platform in the middle of the park stands a white-walled and green tiled Tensho-kaku Tower, which is the symbol of Osaka.

The Construction of Osaka Castle

The first Osaka Castle Tensho-kaku Tower was built in 1583, when Toyotomi Hideyoshi 豊臣秀吉, a powerful ruler, wanted a castle worthy of his status. Under his personal supervision, it took just over a year to complete the construction of the castle’s Tensho-kaku Tower. It is said that Osaka Castle’s Tensho-kaku Tower was decorated with a large amount of gold and that there were piles of treasures on each floor of the castle, which amazed many visitors.

Eaves and corners of the Tensho-kaku Tower

Osaka Winter Campaign and Osaka Summer Campaign

After the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1598, Tokugawa Ieyasu 徳川家康 launched two battles against the Toyotomi clan in Osaka Castle, which were known as Osaka Winter Campaign and Osaka Summer Campaign in the history of Japanese warring states. In the winter of 1614, Tokugawa Ieyasu besieged Osaka Castle with an army of 200,000 soldiers, but the castle was too strong to be breached. After an unsuccessful assault, Tokugawa proposed peace talks and finally managed to fill up The Moat of Osaka Castle, which paved the way for the victory of the Osaka Summer Campaign half a year later.

Valiant Yukimura Sanada in Osaka Summer Campaign

After the end of the Osaka Winter Campaign, Toyotomi Clan and Tokugawa Clan, who seemed to be reconciled, could not escape from the wheel of history, and only one person would control Japan in the future. In the summer of 1615, only half a year later, 150,000 Tokugawa troops gathered in Osaka again. On the day of the battle, the fog spread over the city, and the Osaka Castle lost the protection of the moat, which led to the disorganization of the people in the city. Osaka Castle Tensho-kaku Tower also burned to the ground in the flames of the battle. In the exhibition hall inside the new Tensho-kaku Tower, you can still see Osaka Summer Campaign the battle between Yukimura Sanada 真田幸村 and Tadanao Matsudaira 松平忠直.

Manywhere Trivia:
The story of Yukimura Sanada, the “Number one warrior in Japan”, who died in the Osaka Summer Campaign, has become even more popular with the popularity of the Japanese drama “Sanada Maru 真田丸”.

Tensho-kaku Tower

In 1620, the second shogun, Tokugawa Hidetada 徳川秀忠, rebuilt a second, larger and more majestic version of the Osaka Castle, which was again destroyed by lightning in 1665.

The one we see today, rebuilt in 1931, is the Third Tensho-kaku Tower of Osaka Castle. The tower was built with reference to the appearance of Tensho-kaku Tower as depicted in the Toyotomi period materials, with the outer walls mostly made of Triangle Gables. Gilded Shachihoko 鯱 sitting on the corners of the eaves recreating the splendor of Osaka Castle in the Toyotomi era.

The Majestic Tensho-kaku

Manywhere Trivia:
The quaint-looking Tensho-kaku Tower is a thoroughly contemporary building, even with an elevator. The same goes for the Leifeng Pagoda and Nagoya Castle in Hangzhou and Nagoya.

Osaka Castle’s Tensho-kaku Tower is five stories high from the outside, but it actually has eight floors. Inside the tower, there is a Historical Materials Exhibition, which introduces the life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the rise and fall of Osaka Castle, and a number of valuable artifacts from Japan’s Warring States period.

Osaka Castle Park

In 1931, after the completion of the third Tensho-kaku, the Tensho-kaku Tower and 100 hectares of land around it were designated as Osaka Castle Park. In addition to the Edo period buildings such as the Tamon Turret 多闻橹, the Sengan Turret 千贯橹, and the Otemon Gate, the park also has cherry trees, peach gardens, and plum trees, making it a picturesque park throughout the year.

Located on the west side of Honmaru, Nishinomaru Garden has about 600 cherry blossom trees, and the park is crowded with people every year during the cherry blossom season.