Osaka Castle Keep

In front of you rises the keep of Osaka Castle, the city's most famous image. Before you admire it, it is worth knowing that it is not the original. It is the third tower to stand on this spot.

1Three towers

Hideyoshi completed the first in 1585, a black-and-gold tower built to dazzle. It burned in 1615, when the Tokugawa took the castle. The victors raised a second one in 1626, but in 1665 lightning struck it and reduced it to ashes. For more than two and a half centuries, Osaka had no keep at all.

2The people's tower

In 1928 Mayor Seki Hajime proposed rebuilding it as part of a grand plan to modernize the city. Residents rose to the occasion: in about six months, 1.5 million yen was raised in donations, a huge sum at the time. The new reinforced-concrete tower opened on 7 November 1931, on top of the Tokugawa-era walls.

Its look blends periods: the upper floors, with their black and gold decoration, recall Hideyoshi's tower as old paintings depict it.

It survived the 1945 bombing raids that flattened the military arsenal next door.

After a major restoration between 1995 and 1997, the building was registered as a national Tangible Cultural Property.

3What to look for

• The golden tigers in relief on the upper band.
• The shachihoko, the golden fish on the roof, guardians against fire.
• The stone wall, which really is from the 17th century.