The Tokugawa government attempted to completely purge the influence
of the Toyotomi family, which was represented by Osaka Castle, to
secure its ruling in the west of Japan. The Shogunate thus had to
build a new castle that was more majestic in appearance and larger
in scale than its predecessor. |
Reconstruction
of Osaka Castle
Osaka Castle, which was nearly
ruined in the Summer War of Osaka, was given to Ieyasu's grandson,
Tadaaki Matsudaira. Although Tadaaki made efforts to restore the
castle town of Osaka, it is said that a full-scale reconstruction
of Osaka Castle was not conducted. In 1619, Osaka was placed under
direct control of the Tokugawa government, and in 1620 the reconstruction
of Osaka Castle began on the order of the 2nd Shogun Hidetada Tokugawa.
Osaka Castle reconstructed by the Tokugawa Shogunate Presumative
Reproduction of the Castle at the height of its prosperity
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Progress
of the Reconstruction
Hidetada Tokugawa appointed Takatora
Todo as magistrate responsible for the reconstruction, and ordered
him to make the stone walls of the new castle twice as solid as
those of the old castle and the moats twice as deep.
Hidetada mobilized feudal lords in the western part of the country
and 64 clans were engaged in digging moats and building the stone
walls. Building the castle structures itself was conducted by the
government.
After the work extending to 3 stages, the reconstruction of the
castle was completed at the time of the 3rd Shogun Iemitsu.
The reconstruction of the Main Tower was completed in 1626. The
Main Tower of five external stories and eight floors within was
a huge building which rose to a height of 58.5 meters. |
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Presumative Cross-sectional View of Honmaru
(Inner Bailey) of Osaka Castle
To view, please install the Shockwave plug-in. |
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Comprehensive
Warifushin (construction by allotting work sites)
The Tokugawa government ordered feudal lords to participate in
the reconstruction and alloted portions of the work site to them.
The lengths of the stone walls, for which they were responsible,
were decided according to yield of rice. All feudal lords had
to compete the excellence in work in the assigned areas called
"Choba". A large number of elaborately carved markings, including
family crests, remain on the stone walls of Osaka Castle and serve
to indicate the individual contributions of feudal lords.
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Chart illustrating the alloted area for each feudal lord in the
reconstruction of Osaka Castle by the Tokugawa government (section)
Work sites allotted to feudal lords are specified. |
Giant
Castle made of stone
Osaka Castle was surrounded by large-scale
stone walls, which were made of solid granite of good quality. In
addition, unparalleled giant stones were used to strategic positions.
The result was the magnificent Osaka Castle,unprecedented in its
excellence. As the reconstruction work was conducted by making the
most of building technique, the stone walls of Osaka Castle serves
to indicate high technology available at the time. |
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Carved markings on a stone wall known as "Sangi-zumi" (the method
of forming the ridgeline of the corner of stone wall by arranging
corner stones and side stones in parallel crosses) (East Outer Moat) |
The stones for Osaka Castle were gathered
from various parts of the country.
In particular a large number of stones were quarried from islands
of the Inland Sea. Of these stones, some were not carried to Osaka
and were left on the island where they were quarried (referred to
as "Zannen-ishi"). |
Experiment of transportation of stones with a method referred to
as "Shurabiki" (using a kind of wooden trailer), by the members
of Shodoshima
Junior Chamber Inc, in 1981 (at the Honmaru
of Osaka Castle) |
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Stones left at Omi seashore in Shodo-shima Island |
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