Major Tourist Attractions In Osaka

Osaka-jo is the name of the city’s most famous sight- the castle built by the statesman Hideyoshi Toyotomi in the end of the 16th century. The castle’s foundations were laid in 1583, and the construction itself carried on over the next three years, with close to a hundred thousand workers toiling over it. The result is impressive - its huge, dominates the area around it, and certainly looks worthy of a man with a stature like Toyotomi’s.  

When the Tokugawa Shogunate ousted Hideyoshi Toyotomi and his kin from the area, the castle fell into the hands of the shogunate and they expanded it still further. With the Meiji Restoration, the Tokugawa Shogunate, rather than allow the castle to fall to the emperor’s troops, burnt it down. What you see today is a replica of the original castle, slightly smaller in size but just as impressive. There’s a section in it with a display of antiques related to the Toyotomi clan, and the castle itself, with its thick walls and high battlements, is a sight to see.

Shiritsu Toyo Jiki Bijutsuka,the City Museum of Oriental Ceramics is one of Osaka’s major landmarks, and an excellent museum of ceramics. It has a wide range of Japanese, Chinese and Korean ceramics, numbering around 10,000 pieces in all. 14 of these have been designated National Treasures or Cultural Properties, and nearly all of them are very beautiful. It’s widely acknowledged as one of the finest museums of its kind in the world, and it’s definitely worth visiting if you’re interested in ceramics or traditional handicrafts per se.

The 10th century shrine of Tenman-gu in Osaka is an important one, partly because it is the site of one of Japan’s most energetically celebrated festivals, Tenjin Matsuri. It is also a shrine dedicated to the patron god of academics, Michizane Sugawara, who was a famous scholar of the 9th century.If you’re in Osaka at the time of Tenjin Matsuri, make it a point to visit Tenman-gu: there’s a wonderful display of fireworks, a procession of floats, and a whole series of boats- more than a hundred of them- sail down the nearby canal, lit up by lanterns.

 The Shinto shrine of Sumiyoshi-Taisha is one of only three shrines in Japan that date back to the time when Buddhism had not yet arrived in Japan- and is therefore a shrine whose architecture has not been influenced by Buddhist styles.   

The Empress Jingu constructed the Shrine of Sumiyoshi-Taisha in 211 to show her gratitude to Sumiyoshi, the goddess of sea voyages, after the Empress returned safely from a voyage to Korea. The shrine of Sumiyoshi-Taisha is built of Japanese cypress, painted vermilion, and is so important that it has given its name to a particular style of architecture. In the grounds are a number of stone lanterns, donated by seafarers and sailors in gratitude to the goddess. The site is also the venue for two interesting festivals- a rice-planting festival in June, and Sumiyoshi-Matsuri, between July 30 and August 1, when a boisterous procession carries a 2-ton portable shrine of the goddess from the temple to Yamato-gawa and back to the temple.

The shrine of Shitenno-ji, better known locally as Tenno-ji, is supposed to be Japan’s oldest shrine: it was built in 593 by Prince Shotoku, considered one of Japan’s most eminent and enlightened monarchs. It was Prince Shotoku who had established Buddhism as the state religion of Japan, and it was he who married the religion to the state’s authority.  Tenno-ji is a historical building, even though the building you now see is a complete reconstruction of the original (the actual building, and subsequent reconstructions, were burnt down through the ages- the present structure dates back to 1965. Some stone structures, called torii, still remain from ancient times, though. If you’re near the shrine on the 21st of a month, make a trip there, if for nothing else than to have a look at the exciting flea market that comes up here on this day- if you’re lucky, you can even buy some genuine antiques.

Other places of interest in Osaka include the 8th century statue of Kannon (the Goddess of Mercy; it’s a seated statue and is a National Treasure) at Fujii-dera, the lovely Keitaku-en Gardens, the Museum of Old Japanese farmhouses, and the Mint Museum- good information on money and its history.