The Difficulty of
Collecting Stones
Even Europeans Were Surprised!
issued by Hideyoshi When Toyotomi Hideyoshi began the construction of Osaka Castle, he ordered his subordinates to bring stones from the Rokko and Ikoma Mountains. At that time, Hideyoshi issued a set of rules for collecting and transporting stones. These rules stipulated that even if a stone in a quarry had someone's mark on it, it could be taken for one's own, but stones kept all in one place and guarded were not to be stolen, suggesting that there was a scramble for stone taking place.
issued by Hideyoshi Luis Frois, a Jesuit missionary visiting Osaka during the construction of the ninomaru (outer bailey) of Osaka Castle, wrote that "What all wondered most, and were filled with wonder and awe at, was where such a vast amount of stone could have been gathered from." According to Frois, Hideyoshi had assigned the procurement of stones to all feudal lords in the Osaka area, so more than a thousand ships loaded with stone entered Osaka every day. The loading and unloading of stones was done in an orderly fashion, and anyone who stole even a single stone was beheaded. It is said that some of the stones were so large, they required a thousand men to transport them.