Ôsaka-jô

Osaka-jô (Osaka Castle) was originally constructed in 1583 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi on the former site of Honganji Temple. Of all the castles that Hideyoshi would construct or support across the nation, Osaka-jô became his pride and the center of his domain. As he was a fan of gold, Osaka-jô was adorned both inside and outside with the precious metal. In 1615, Hideyoshi's son Hideyori, gathered allies to the castle to restore the Toyotomi family shogunate from Tokugawa Ieyasu. Ieyasu however was far more experienced and let his enemies gather in one place before going to war. Ieyasu destroyed the Toyotomi family, burned Osaka-jô to the ground, and lined the Tokkaido Highway from Kyoto to Tokyo with distance markers made from the severed heads of his enemies. Osaka-jô would later be rebuilt under the control of the Tokugawa family, but it would burn down several more times due to lightning strikes. In the early 20th century, Osaka-jô became a military staging ground for the Japanese army and would be burned down yet again in the fire bombs of WWII. The current tower, this time with proper lightning rods and grounding cables,  is a recreation of what the main tower was estimated to look like when it was first built by Hideyoshi.

For visitors: 8.

To begin, I used an accent on the upper case “O” in the title to emphasize that the “O” is stressed when pronounced correctly (Oh-saka). This is a common mistake made by foreigners which does not help garner any favor from the locals. Osaka-jô is a beautiful sight to see and a pretty cool location. As someone who grew up without castles within reasonable travel distance, coming across a castle has an accompanied rush of emotion to it. The castle is a very cool thing to see and I would recommend that people pay a visit if they're in the area. However, to be entirely honest, it's one of the biggest tourist traps in town. It's often very busy with foreigners and the souvenirs are rather pricey and cheesy. Going inside is nice be it a bit cramped. If you go in summer the tower is air conditioned for your comfort which is always nice considering Japanese summers are overwhelming humid. Over all the castle didn’t meet my expectations. The tower is pretty and the view from the top is great, but I didn't find myself wanting to visit again; probably because of how obviously it markets to foreigners. The main tower is the only real building on the castle foundations and everything else is either a restaurant or souvenier shop. I will say though that if you're interested, you can pay a photographer at the castle for a photo-op with the tower in the background while you wear samurai armor. No idea how much it costs but I'd guess it's a pretty penny.

 

Introduction to "Other"

Not everything to see in Japan is temples and shrines. I focus on these two systems primarily because they are found everywhere from the biggest of cities to the smallest of towns, and often receive patronage from major historical figures. Because of this, it doesn't matter what city you're in, or even if I write about it in this blog, there will always be something beautiful and historical to see. These sorts of sites also hint at mindsets of the time in which they were built. Shrines are the homes of local deities, some ranging back hundreds or even thousands of years. They are central to the lives in smaller localities, and serve as reminders in the larger townships. Buddhism is how one cares for those who have moved on. Where there is life, there will be temples. Because of the regularity of these structure types, they're easy to find and are often without major crowds and tourist attractions. Even if one of these locations is famous, there is often a less popular yet equally beautiful location just down the road. For example, Kiyomizu-dera stands proudly on the eastern slopes of Kyoto and draws millions of visitors a year, but a short walk away Kenninji stands equally impressive and yet has smaller crowds. But I wanted to make this page about everything else: the castles, palaces, burial locations, etc. These are often more rare outside of major cities and are regularly regarded as tourist traps, so be advised that I heard about these places in many of the same ways that you the reader will probably have. That being said, I do encourage visiting these locations because they often reflect a change in times, moments of gravitas, and memories we need to remember.

I wanted to use the title of "Other" because I felt that giving it a name would restrict my posts about what could be included. Most of the things I will put in here will be more along the lines of castles and palaces, but monuments and memorials are equally important though they may represent an event in recent memory rather than lore. So this is my page where I will review everything else that I've come across and think you should know about. As per usual, I will give my rating out of 10, but I will only be grading it once, not twice.