Spot guide · Osaka 大阪
Photo: dconvertini / CC BY-SA 2.0Toyotomi Hideyoshi built the original from 1583 as the seat of a unified Japan. The Tokugawa destroyed it in the siege of 1615, rebuilt it larger on top of the ruins in the 1620s, and lightning burned that keep in 1665. What you climb is a 1931 reconstruction in reinforced concrete, restored in 1997, with a lift inside.
The building is not the point; the walls are. The Tokugawa rebuild used stones brought by sea from across western Japan, and the largest — the Octopus Stone at the Sakuramon gate — is estimated at well over a hundred tonnes. They are original, they are enormous, and they are free to walk among.
Thirty-five minutes each way. Dotonbori is closer and more Osaka.
Castle in the morning, then Kuromon and Dotonbori.
On a long call this competes with Kyoto. Decide before you leave the ship.
The keep is not — it is a 1931 reconstruction in reinforced concrete, restored in 1997, with a lift inside. The stone walls and moats are the original Tokugawa rebuild of the 1620s, and they are the genuinely impressive part: the largest single stone at the Sakuramon gate is estimated at well over a hundred tonnes.
About two hours including the keep, or an hour for the walls and park alone. Add roughly thirty-five minutes each way from the cruise berth by subway, which makes it a four-hour-call activity rather than a short-call one.
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