The exterior and the gardens were great but the inside of the castle was disappointing - it's been completely rebuilt into a museum, and not a very good one. I was hoping to see something more traditional, maybe a recreation of what the castle used to be like on the inside but there were only a few authentic items displayed, as well as some artwork and documents. The view from the top was nothing special since all you can see in the distance are skyscrapers and office buildings. Stick to the park outside and don't bother buying a ticket for the castle.
I visited Osaka Castle on a weekday morning, and it was such a peaceful experience since it wasn’t crowded. The grounds are massive, and everything was clean and well-maintained. It felt like stepping into history as I admired the beautiful architecture of the castle—a sight I’d only ever seen on postcards my aunt brought me back in high school.
There was a huge tree in the middle of the grounds with vibrant yellow leaves, which added to the charm of the place. The garden surrounding the castle was stunning, and I can only imagine how breathtaking it must look in full autumn colors. It seemed like there was an event planned for the evening, which would have been fun to attend.
I highly recommend walking around the castle grounds in the fall—such a memorable experience!
Today, we visited Osaka Castle... it is magnificent looking from the outside, but from the inside, they have changed it into a museum, so I have no idea how it looked like a few hundred years back, other than telling us it used to house their gold and silver, so sounds like a central bank of old? The museum itself was okay. Now the area around it is also nice and very accessible and family friendly. Their main elevator was out of service, so I'm not sure what people with a disability or prams did as the place have at least a million steps you need to climb! The view from all the way at the top is very nice, with a small gift shop up there and another larger one downstairs. I won't spoil the story, but check out the story of the Lord who built the original castle, it has a twist in it that I didn't see coming! But the only hint I'll mention is that he was 57 when it happened. Buy tickets online as the line was huge, at least a 30-minute wait, even though at the end of the line, you find 3 ticket vending machines! I think they could have easily doubled the number of those machines! Online tickets have a line of their own, and you get in within a minute. Worth the trip...
The castle itself is good to look at, and to be honest I didn’t go into it, but what I really enjoyed were the surrounding gardens and walls and moats. It’s a beautiful calm place to walk around in Osaka with lots of historic content to read. There’s good amenities around.
You can see this castle from far.. even from the station.. be prepared for a long walk and at some path ..it’s uphill too. It’s a huge castle and magnificent too.. I didn’t pay to get to the top.. too tired already.. dread to think continue walking all they way to highest ‘penthouse’ but I bet the view from there will be spectacular indeed. The stones used to built the wall must have taken a lot of effort to carve and placed.. if I read it correctly (there is a segment of history of this castle on another nearby building) it took a long time to complete it.
The path leading to the castle is an enjoyable walk (consider the weather was 9-12 degrees C) .. and since it weekday.. surprise to see there’s crowd..this must be a popular place.
In summary.. was it worth it.. yes but I guess once is enough..
