Osaka Castle Museum

The keep of Osaka Castle stands upright against the blue sky. Construction of Osaka Castle was begun in Tensho 11 (1583) by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who was working to unify the country, on the site of the Osaka (Ishiyama) Honganji. The keep, the central building of the inner citadel, was finished two years later, but it burned down in the summer campaign at Osaka in Genna 1 (1615), when the Toyotomi house fell. It was rebuilt under the Tokugawa, then burned again after a lightning strike in Kanbun 5 (1665), and from then on the castle stood without a keep. The present keep was built in Showa 6 (1931) with donations from citizens, gathered at the call of Seki, the mayor of the time. Raised again after 266 years, it is 55 metres high, with five roof tiers and eight floors, and gold decoration glitters everywhere on it: the shachi on the roof, the crouching tigers below the balustrade. It is a nationally registered tangible cultural property, and a major renovation was carried out between 1995 and 1997. The observation deck on the eighth floor looks out over the whole of Osaka.

Translated from the Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City tourist listings (観光施設一覧, CC BY 4.0).

Osaka Prefecture's list of designated cultural properties names this place as the owner of 11, among them 4 Important Cultural Properties. Objects are not necessarily on view.

And 5 more on the list. 大阪府 文化財一覧 (CC BY 4.0), current at 2024-05-01. Joined by owner name; long names are shortened to the buildings or the object.