Osaka Castle, Japan. Osaka Castle, otherwise known as Osaka-jo in Japanese, dates back to the 16th c

Osaka Castle, Japan. Osaka Castle, otherwise known as Osaka-jo in Japanese, dates back to the 16th century. This castle is a tangible link to the city’s illustrious past as Japan’s one-time seat of power. Nobunaga’s successor, Toyotomi Hideyoshi decided to build the grandest castle in Japan on the site of a temple. For three years from 1583, tens of thousands on men laboured on the enormous castle, and craftmen were drafted in from around Japan to give the eight-stories central donjon the finest gold-leaf decoration. The Osaka castle today may not retain all of its glory as it was taken over by the shogun after Hideyoshi’s death. It was reduced to its ruin in 1614. In 1620, Tokugawa Ieyasu allowed the castle to be rebuilt, but he ensure that it was not on the same scale as his own resident in Edo. In 1665, the donjon was burnt down after being struck by lightning. It was not until the 1840s that it was rebuilt, though it only lasted for 30 years before it was set on fire by the Tokugawa troops just before the Meiji Restoration of 1868. However, residents of Osaka had grown fond of their castle. It was rebuilt once more in 1931, withstanding the heavy bombing of WWII. Osaka Castle shares a past with Japanese history. It can be counted as a great survivor through all the chaotic times in the past. A place that speaks of Japanese culture, traditions, and lustrous past. Image By YG Low -- source link

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