Osaka Castle and the fall of the shogun
Osaka Castle saw the end of the samurai government. Two shoguns ran their wars from here in the 1860s, the last shogun fled from here in 1868, and the castle burned the same month.
Then the new Meiji government turned the area into a test bed for modern Japan: an army arsenal, a mint, a science school and a foreign trade port, all within reach of the castle.
From shogun's castle to army base
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1854 | A Russian warship under Putyatin appears off Tempozan, at the mouth of Osaka's rivers |
| 1864 | The shogunate makes Osaka Castle its base against the Chōshū domain |
| 1866 | The 14th shogun, Tokugawa Iemochi, directs the second war against Chōshū from the castle and dies that summer |
| 1867 | The last shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, receives Western envoys at the castle |
| 1868, Jan | Yoshinobu's troops lose near Kyoto. He leaves the castle and sails for Edo. The castle burns on January 9 |
| 1868, Mar | The Meiji Emperor's first trip outside Kyoto brings him to Osaka |
| 1870 | An arms works opens in the castle grounds, later the Osaka Army Arsenal. A cannon starts firing the time three times a day |
| 1871 | The Mint opens north of the river |
Dates before 1873 are in the old Japanese calendar, as the sources give them.
Inside Osaka Castle Park
- Osaka Castle itself. Shogun Iemochi ran the Chōshū war from here, and Yoshinobu met foreign envoys here.
- The time-signal cannon (Gōhō). From 1870 a cannon in the castle fired three times a day to tell the city the time.
- Hokoku Shrine. In 1868 the Meiji Emperor ordered that Hideyoshi be honored in Osaka again. Guide
- Where the Shinsengumi stayed. In January 1868, at the start of the Boshin War, shogunate troops including the Shinsengumi were quartered in the guards' barracks south of the inner moat, on the site of today's Shudokan martial arts hall and Hokoku Shrine. The barracks burned in the fire when the shogunate army pulled out. Map
- Tamon Turret at Otemon Gate. Rebuilt in 1848 and still standing. Map
- Site of the Osaka Army Arsenal, on the east side of the grounds. It grew from an arms works set up in the castle in 1870. More
- Grave of the soldiers who died in the castle fire. Shogunate soldiers burned to death in 1868 are buried here. Local people came to pray at it and called it "Zannen-san". The stone was put up by Satsuma and Chōshū, the domains that defeated them.
Within walking distance
- Seimi-kyoku site and statue of Dr. Gratama, Otemae, just west of the castle. A Western-style science school that opened in 1869.
- Hachikenya landing, Tenmabashi. The new government's troops landed here on January 10, 1868, the day after the castle burned.
- The Mint (Zōheikyoku), opened in 1871 north of the river.
- Sempukan, an Important Cultural Property. Built in 1871 as the Mint's reception hall and named by the Meiji Emperor.
- Tekijuku, Kitahama. The private school of the doctor Ogata Kōan, which trained Fukuzawa Yukichi and Ōmura Masujirō.
Farther out, Tempozan at the harbor is where Yoshinobu boarded his ship for Edo in 1868, and where the Meiji Emperor reviewed the domains' warships that March.
Questions
What happened at Osaka Castle in 1868?
In January 1868 the last shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, sent his troops from Osaka Castle toward Kyoto. They lost, and Yoshinobu left the castle and sailed back to Edo. The castle burned on January 9, 1868, and the shogunate effectively ended.
Which Meiji Restoration sites are inside Osaka Castle Park?
The time-signal cannon, Hokoku Shrine, Tamon Turret at Otemon Gate, the site of the Osaka Army Arsenal, and the grave of the shogunate soldiers who died in the 1868 fire.
Why is Osaka spelled 大坂 and 大阪?
Old records use 大坂. The Osaka Castle Museum uses 大坂 for events up to the castle fire of 1868 and 大阪 after it.
Written by Kyoya Fujioka. Facts come from the Osaka Castle Museum map of places related to the Bakumatsu and Meiji Restoration (issued May 2026).