The building of the castle started in 1583, it was functional in 1585 but its final version ended in 1598, 15 years later.
During that time, it was the biggest castle in Japan.
It withstood several attacks and was even burned to the ground by lightning.
It has been restored several times and has survived several wars, including World War II.
It was last restored in 1997 and opened to the public with a magnificent museum that I highly recommend.
The perspective of the castle seen from the moat gives us the impression that it is small, but it is 8 stories tall.
Inside the museum, beautiful exhibits on the castle itself and the samurai who commissioned its creation.
Many vestiges are present and there are explanatory sheets in English which allow us to visualize its history.
Here, superb screens depicting one of Osaka war.
Magnificent representation of events that are not magnificent.
There is of course a big section dedicated to samurai and it is even proposed to be photographed in a samurai costume.
There was of course a thread of people waiting when I visited; the souvenir photo will be for next time.
I don't know about you, but I have always enjoyed the Japanese art of sword and knife shaping, so I spent a lot of time in this section of the museum.
Once the museum visit is over, you can't miss the 50 meter high observation deck which offers panoramic views of the area.
We then become aware of the immensity of the castle park and how the city surrounds it.
Photo taken with a Canon PowerShot SX500 IS.
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