Osaka and the Castle

 Tuesday September 8

We disembarked today in Osaka, by far the largest city and busiest commercial port we have seen. It is the second largest city by area and the third largest city by population in Japan.  It rained on and off all day, but we managed to do some birding and visit the Osaka Castle with friends. The temperature was in the mid-80s, humid, but a lot better than the high 90s they had last week. 

Osaka sits on a wide bay that connects to both the North Pacific and the East China Sea. It has been a trading center, particularly with China and Korea, for many centuries. There was a lot of Chinese influence in Japan in the 7th and 8th centuries, including one of the three writing systems still in use. Starting in the 10th century, Japan chose to the more isolated and to develop its own culture. 

In modern times, Osaka is known for its business and financial focus. We heard that instead of “how are you?” The greeting in Osaka is “are you making money?”. But you should be humble and answer “so-so”.  There has also been a futures market, trading in rice harvest futures, since the 17th century. 

By the 5th century, the imperial palace was built on the same site as the castle. The imperial capital moved to Nara and then Kyoto, and the site Osaka became the compound of the local feudal lord. 

Throughout the trip we have heard repeatedly about the Tokugawa Shogunate which ruled the unified country from 1603 to 1858 (while ostensibly serving the emperor). The first Tokugawa shogun displaced the heir of the previous ruler (Totoyomi Hideyoshi), who has risen from a humble beginning rather than the traditional noble hereditary background of most samurai and lords. This story is the basis of the novel and movies “Shogun”.

Here in Osaka, the story comes to life. Totoyomi built Osaka castle in 1583 to be the largest and strongest in Japan, capable of housing 5000 samurai. Totoyomi died in 1598, and by 1603 Tokugawa had taken over, but the Totoyomi heir still held Osaka Castle as his feudal domain. In 1615, the castle fell and was largely destroyed by fire, and the heir committed honorable suicide. 

In 1620 the second Tokugawa shogun began rebuilding the castle, having first buried any remnants of the previous one under a thick layer of dirt and rock. Only very recently have vestiges of the original castle been found.  The second castle was not nearly as large as the first, but was well defended with curtain walls, moats, corner bastions, and murder holes in the central tower itself.  Various parts of the castle succumbed to fire (some natural and some from conflicts), although the moat and defensive walls survived. 

In 1931 the local community began to rebuild the Tokugawa central tower. The structure and outer appearance is as close as they could make it, while the inside houses six floors of artifacts and historical displays. We spent several hours on the grounds and in the museum. The area surrounding the castle and the moat is a lovely green space, and we enjoyed birding there during breaks in the showers.

Pictured: Osaka castle— corner bastions, main tower, original Otemon gate, castle view across the moat