Osaka Castle - First half of my day in Osaka

Wasn't sure what I wanted to do this morning but the weather looked like no rain so decided to spend the day in Osaka, which is only about 30 minutes by train from Kyoto.

Osaka is a port city just southwest of Kyoto and there were a few things I wanted to check out there since it's so close. My first stop was Osaka Castle. I have done so much walking and stair climbing during my stay in Japan and today was no different.  I had to walk a mile to the castle from the train stop and it was a lovely walk along the Okawa River. I swear, there is beauty at every turn when walking in Japan. I even love the manhole covers!




Suddenly, around a corner, you see the walls built around one of the most iconic landmarks in Japan. The main tower stands high above a moat that surrounds about 15 acres of land.



The moats are 70-90 meters in width and the walls are more than 20 meters high. They began building the castle in 1583 so can you imagine how challenging it was to transport the stones and build this amazing structure?





The castle is five stories above ground and 3 stories below. It only cost about $6 to go in so of course I wanted to climb my way to the top.

Every level of the castle has an incredible collection of artifacts and historical information about Osaka and the castle. Most of the collection is behind glass and it's just not possible to take good photos but I did capture a few that I thought were really cool.

These are samurai helmets and garments! I am beyond thrilled to see these! I have loved Japanese history and culture for a long time and learning even more about the shoguns and samurai is making me a very happy camper. My plan is to get to the Samurai and Ninja Museum in Kyoto before I leave so you might just hear more about this in the future.



Can you imagine going into battle and facing some of these battle garments?
I'm not sure if these videos will transfer but they created these incredible little visuals to learn about the history of the castle. There were a whole bunch of these little screens around the perimeter of the room so you could watch the historical timeline.

I finally made my way to the top and took a few photos of Osaka from above.







What a spectacular beginning to my day. 




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