Hello from the Five Star Vagabond

Welcome to 700 travel blogs, to access a full index on your mobile please scroll to the bottom & choose from 700 locations. Email is [email protected]

Osaka-Castle-Japan
Osaka-Castle-Japan

Sixteenth century Osaka Castle

Osaka Castle

Sixteenth century Osaka Castle

Sixteenth century Osaka Castle

Sixteenth century Osaka Castle is a magnificent structure, it is one of Japan’s most famous landmarks, it played a major role in the unification of Japan during the 16th century.

 Otemon (western) Gate

Sixteenth century Osaka Castle

 The castle grounds, which cover 60,000 square meters (15 acres), contain thirteen structures that are designated as important cultural assets by the Japanese government.

Castle moat

Sixteenth century Osaka Castle

  This is the Sixteenth century Osaka Castle outer moat.

The inner moat

Sixteenth century Osaka Castle

  The granite walls were built in the 1620s & remain  standing today, they are made out of interlocked granite boulders without mortar. Many of the stones were brought from rock quarries near the Seto Inland Sea, and bear inscribed crests of the various families who donated them.

 Sakura-mon Gate

Sixteenth century Osaka Castle

Through the Sakura-mon Gate is the first glimpse of this magnificent building.

Photo opportunity at Sixteenth century Osaka Castle

Sixteenth century Osaka Castle

At all the temples and shrine I have visited in Japan there are always huge numbers of school children learning about the history of their wonderful country.

Awesome castle

Sixteenth century Osaka Castle

 The central castle building is five stories on the outside and eight stories on the inside, and built atop a tall stone foundation to protect its occupants from attackers.

Long Queue for the elevator

Sixteenth century Osaka Castle

Instead of joining the queue I decided to take the stairs, 8 floors and very steep, ok I admit I took a couple of rests on the way. 🙂


Samurai short sword

Sixteenth century Osaka Castle

The various floors hold museum pieces from the past.

Models of Samurai warriors

Sixteenth century Osaka Castle

Re-enacting battles from past centuries. The samurai (or bushi) were the warriors of pre-modern Japan. They later made up the ruling military class that eventually became the highest ranking social caste of the Edo Period (1603-1867). Samurai employed a range of weapons such as bows and arrows, spears and guns, but their main weapon and symbol was the sword.

Samurai

Sixteenth century Osaka Castle

Samurai were supposed to lead their lives according to the ethic code of bushido (“the way of the warrior”). Strongly Confucian in nature, bushido stressed concepts such as loyalty to one’s master, self discipline and respectful, ethical behavior. Many samurai were also drawn to the teachings and practices of Zen Buddhism.

Magnificent Tiger

Sixteenth century Osaka Castle

This tiger was so impressive.

Sixteenth century Osaka Castle

Sixteenth century Osaka Castle

Model of reconstruction

Sixteenth century Osaka Castle

Presented by Osaka Lion’s Club in 1992.

From to top floor of the castle

Sixteenth century Osaka Castle

A view of Osaka from the 8th floor of Osaka Castle.

The Sixteenth century Osaka Castle grounds

Sixteenth century Osaka Castle

Looking down from the 8th floor of Osaka Castle.

City skyline

Sixteenth century Osaka Castle

A great view of Osaka from the top floor of Osaka Castle.

Beware all Ninjas

Sixteenth century Osaka Castle

Awesome fire-power, well it may have been in the 16th century. 🙂

Modern buildings near the Castle

Sixteenth century Osaka Castle

It’s about a 15 minute walk from the station to the Castle, here are some of the buildings you pass on the way.

Thanks for visiting my Sixteenth century Osaka Castle photo blog, I stayed in a nice budget hotel in Osaka five minutes walk to Namba station. Get a very good rate by using this link.                   

  Here are some more posts to check out 

         Sydney                               Paris                                   Bangkok           
 497d0b6e-c0bd-4ba2-86be-c02100f050a8        65470622-d17a-4b90-bf97-2574df4c412d        1a2160c1-41f7-465a-954c-631e083eb229
          Tokyo                        Rio De Janeiro                        Budapest
f59e958e-8eaf-48b4-8e96-c291a0c13d1a        f044491e-69aa-4082-b49b-1ff33557d7d4        a6a948cd-f30a-49ea-a905-82be4d202cc9
           London                            Beijing                            Capetown
2246c6cf-5fa6-4fbe-ac30-b569253ad2a6        f65d714b-f44c-4b2e-9505-3511ebecbb80        4e82052a-24d0-41e1-ab84-10e8f27634d1
 
            Great hotel room rates anywhere in the world if you            
 book through these links below.  Book now & pay later.
                                                                 Plus free cancellation .
                                               Bangkok Hotels                    Pattaya Hotels
                                            d0c59ff5-7f2b-41b5-9312-4556d4a62037            01a75360-9573-473f-acba-3a187f779b7f
A-One hotel on Beach Road

Seven deadly Songkran days

For a great room rate at the A-One hotel opposite the beach just book through THIS LINK.               

 
Pattaya live webcam
 
9a1fec74-4461-46cd-8663-97f5893c8f6e (1)

That’s all folks

1g Duck

 

Check out these great posts

  • French village Breil Sur Roya

Counter only started June 16 2020.

Author: David Herd

My history, particularly over the last 30 years is dominated by overseas travel. I sold my home in Australia October 20th 2011 and have have been living in Thailand since then. I don’t know where the time has gone? It seems like you go to sleep one night, wake up the next morning, and 20 years have flashed by. Not sure how many years I have left, however I have enjoyed a wonderful charmed life, and if it all ended today I would leave this world with no regrets. I was born in Sydney halfway through the last century, started my travels in the 60s with the usual U.K. Europe adventure at the age of 20, back to Australia and worked in Sydney, Melbourne & Adelaide in Sales & Marketing with multinational companies including Sanyo, Canon & Remington. Engaged to be married 3 times and never quite made it to the alter, finally realized by the mid 90s I was not cut out for "long term relationships" so I moved to the Gold Coast in Queensland in January 1987, worked for a couple of banks as a Financial Planner, I took a year off work in 1998 to travel and never went back to full time work again, after 25 fun filled years on the Coast I packed up and moved to Thailand. What is the purpose of this blog? Well I really want to use it to record my travel experiences & to display my photographs, give and receive travel tips, comment on places I visit, restaurants I eat in and use it to replace the autobiography I intended to write, apart from all that it helps me fill in my day. :) I moved to Thailand mainly because I wanted to keep travelling while my health allowed me to, there are huge advantages being closer to all the places I want to visit. Cost of living in Thailand is around 35% of the cost in Australia, plus flights are 50% cheaper because you are much closer to everywhere. ???? Consequently I am able to travel to many more places compared to living in Australia. Having said all that, it is & has always been my intention to return to Australia when my travelling is finished, I predict this will happen around 2021.

Comments are closed.