i enjoyed visiting this castle. be prepared to spend a few hours to read the plaques surrounding the artifacts. this place has beautiful flower gardens and you can meet visitors from all over the world here.
The gardens are beautiful and there are a lot of things to do for free there. Just the walk up to the castle is worth the JR ticket price, and the veiw from the top of the castle is worth the few hundred yen that will cost ya.
We visited Osaka castle for the first time in 1984, when the city celebrated the castle’s 300 year anniversary, and then yesterday (July 2006). In 1984 we saw the castle as it was rebuilt in 1931 in an attempt to reproduce Hideyoshi`s castle, which was destroyed by Ieasu in 1615. Of course we could not see either of the real castles that stood ...
This is a spectacular looking castle from the outside. Looks authentic and orginal, but inside it's pretty much just a museum of artifacts from the orginal Osaka Castle. The castle's been re-done inside; including a elavator and gift shop on the bottom floor. Still worth visiting, but I'd recommend Himeji Castle which is about 1 hour away on the JR railway line.
After entering the huge Osaka Castel PARK for a few minutes you completely forget you are in the middle of an enormous, busy, noisy, polluted city (although not that bad in Oct.).
You can easily walk for an hour or more and not even 'see' the castle. The Park is tree covered, mostly types of pines, and extremely fragrant. It is quiet. ...
I liked Osaka Castle. I thought it was beautiful. It was extremely time consuming and there is only one elevator. It's actually faster to use the stairs, but that's very tiring. It's well worth it though. The view of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's life is a little romanticized, but overall, it's pretty good. Pay the extra money to dress up in the costumes!
I used to walk home from Kyobashi station to my apt. in Osaka and I passed this park everytime. It is a nice walk, save for the myriad homeless tents scattered all around the park. Don't worry, Japanese homeless don't ask for money. Osaka Castle is worth going to, and mainly displays the Tokugawa Ieyasu shogunate period and has a nice view of East Osaka, Ikoma Mt. (a great hike btw), and Osaka Business Park.