Osaka Castle is a prominent symbol of Osaka City, originally constructed in 1583 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi on the site of the Ishiyama Hongan-ji temple-fortress, which had been the scene of a violent uprising by warrior monks and peasants in the late 16th century. Modeled on Oda Nobunaga’s Azuchi Castle, the original Osaka Castle tenshu (tower keep) featured five visible floors, six interior floors, and two underground basements. The exterior was lacquered black and adorned with gold decorations, including large peony flowers, tigers, birds, and various crests.
The lavish use of gold on Osaka Castle’s exterior surpassed even the grandeur of Azuchi Castle. The shachihoko-gawara (roof decorations with a tiger’s head and a scaly fish’s body), other roofing tiles, and rounded eave edge tiles were all finished in gold leaf. Inside, pillars were lacquered red or black, and walls were beautifully decorated with gold leaf and paintings by leading artists of the time. Hideyoshi often conducted tours of the luxurious keep to enhance his power and authority.
After Hideyoshi’s death in 1598, construction of the castle continued until the entire structure, including the San-no-Maru and all the defensive elements like earthen walls, water moats, and dry moats, was completed. During the Winter Siege of Osaka in 1614, Sanada Yukimura built the Sanada-Maru, a vast defensive structure that greatly strengthened the southern end of Osaka.
Following Hideyoshi’s death, his five-year-old son, Hideyori, inherited the castle. However, the peace achieved by Hideyoshi was disrupted when Tokugawa Ieyasu, the leader of the Council of Regents established to assist Hideyori, made moves to seize power. This led to the nation being divided between the Tokugawa-led East and the Toyotomi-loyal West, culminating in the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. Although the Tokugawa won, many daimyo remained loyal to the Toyotomi, prompting Ieyasu to launch the Winter Siege of Osaka in 1614. Despite being outnumbered, the Toyotomi forces held off the attack. However, in 1615, Ieyasu raised 150,000 samurai and laid siege to Osaka Castle again, eventually destroying it with artillery and fire, killing thousands of Toyotomi loyalists and ending the Toyotomi clan.
In 1620, the Tokugawa clan rebuilt Osaka Castle to erase any trace of the Toyotomi fortress. The moats were widened and deepened, and the stone walls were reconfigured to reach 30 meters in height. The tenshu was rebuilt about 45 meters west of the original keep, and a three-story watchtower was added. This new castle was partially destroyed in 1660 by an explosion and fire caused by lightning striking a gunpowder warehouse. The main donjon was destroyed by another lightning strike in 1665. Finally, the castle was attacked and burned during the Meiji Restoration in 1868.
The current ferro-concrete tower, reconstructed in 1931, blends old and new elements from different clans and periods. It was based on the shape of the Toyotomi castle but built in the white-walled, green-roofed style preferred by the Tokugawa clan, atop the remaining stone base from the 1620s. Thirteen original Tokugawa period structures remain and are designated as Important Cultural Assets. Notably, the stone walls of Osaka Castle have survived demolition, war, and earthquakes since their construction in the 1620s.
See also
-
Kaminoyama Castle
Kamino-yama Castle stood at the center of an important logistics hub, in the middle of the Yonezawa Plain, which served as the gateway to the western part of the Tohoku region. Roads connecting the Aizu, Fukushima, and Yamagata areas intersected here.
-
Imabari Castle
Tōdō Takatora (1556–1630) served at different times as a vassal of several famous clans—Azai, Oda, Toyotomi, and Tokugawa. He took part in the Battle of Anegawa (1570), the Battle of Shizugatake (1583), the invasions of Kyushu and Korea, the Sekigahara campaign (1600), and the Siege of Osaka (1614–1615).
-
Iwakuni Castle
Kikkawa Hiroie (1561–1625) was the grandson of the famous daimyo Mori Motonari and a vassal of the Mori clan. Under Mori Terumoto, he fought in both Korean campaigns and took part in the defense of Ulsan Castle. During the Battle of Sekigahara, Hiroie stood with his 3,000-man force on the side of the Western Coalition; however, even before the battle began, he sent Tokugawa Ieyasu a secret message stating that he did not intend to fight Tokugawa’s troops. As a result of his inaction, 15,000 soldiers under Mori Hidemoto were also unable to enter the battle, since Hiroie blocked their path.
-
Gujo Hachiman Castle
Gujo Hachiman Castle is located on 350-meter Mount Hachiman, near the confluence of the Yoshidagawa and Kodaragava rivers, and not far from the Nagaragawa River. During the Sengoku period, this area was of great strategic importance: it stood at a key crossroads of routes connecting Mino Province in the south with the Sea of Japan in the north, and Hida Province in the east with Echizen Province in the west.
-
Amagasaki Castle
The founding year of Amagasaki Castle is traditionally considered to be 1617, when Toda Ujikané built his castle here, making it the administrative center of the Amagasaki Domain. However, as early as the Sengoku period, a fortress built by the Hosokawa clan already stood on this site. After the fall of Itami Castle in 1579, Araki Murashige—formerly a vassal of Oda Nobunaga who had rebelled against him—fled to this earlier castle.
-
Hiroshima Castle
Mōri Terumoto (1553–1625) was the grandson and rightful heir of the renowned Mōri Motonari. When Terumoto became the head of the Mōri clan in 1571, he inherited vast territories covering a large part of the San’in and San’yō regions in western Honshū. In addition, the Mōri clan possessed the largest and most technologically advanced naval fleet of its time.
-
Fukuyama Castle
After the defeat of Toyotomi Hideyori’s supporters in the Osaka Campaigns of 1614–1615, many clans in Japan still remained not fully loyal to the Tokugawa shogunate, especially in the western Chūgoku region. Mizuno Katsunari (1564–1651), a cousin of Tokugawa Ieyasu, became the first of the Tokugawa house’s close retainers, the so-called fudai daimyō, to be relocated to this strategically important area.
-
Tiba Castle
The founder of the Chiba clan is considered to be Chiba Tsunesige (1083–1180), who in 1126 moved his residence to the Inohana area and built a strongly fortified stronghold there. Although Tsunesige himself came from the Taira clan, the Chiba clan later supported Minamoto no Yoritomo, the future founder of the first shogunate.
