Insight Guides: Pocket Japan by Insight Guides

Author:Insight Guides
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Travel, Japan
Publisher: Apa Publications
Published: 2016-12-14T16:00:00+00:00

Birds of prey competing at Osaka Castle

Chris Stowers/Apa Publications

Here you’ll also get a splendid view of Osaka Castle (www.osakacastle.net; daily 9am–5pm), which is dramatically illuminated at night. To celebrate his unification of Japan after more than a century of civil war, Hideyoshi had made the castle the country’s greatest fortress, so the Tokugawa felt obliged to destroy it in 1615 after snatching power away from Hideyoshi’s heir. They later rebuilt it to bolster their own prestige, only to burn it down once again in a fit of pique when the Meiji Restoration of imperial power abolished their shogunate in 1868. Today, a reinforced-concrete replica reproduces only the great five-storeyed tower, 42 metres (138ft) high, surrounded by moats and ivy-covered ramparts. The castle contains an interesting but disappointingly modern museum displaying armour, weapons, costumes and historical documents. There’s also an enchanting collection of bunraku puppets – a rare chance to see them at close range.

Providing a welcome touch of green amid all the asphalt, ginkgo and sycamore trees line the impressive Midosuji Boulevard. This thoroughfare runs south from Umeda to Kita’s southern counterpart, Minami. On one side of Midosuji is America-mura (‘America Village’), the favourite posing ground for Osaka’s desperately trendy youth, so named for the large number of stores selling much-sought-after second-hand apparel imported from the US.

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