Osaka Castle in World War II

1. Bomb damage on the Main Tower base

Look at the stone base of the Main Tower from the north and east. The stones are out of line: a bomb fell a few meters north of the tower in 1945 and pushed them. The 1931 tower was built so that it did not rest its weight on the old stone base, so the tower itself was not affected. Work was done in 1964 to stop the walls shifting further. Map

2. Former 4th Division Headquarters (MIRAIZA OSAKA-JO)

The building beside the Main Tower that looks like a European castle was built in 1931, the same year as the tower, as the headquarters of the army's 4th Division. When the war ended in 1945 it was the headquarters of the Central District Army. After the occupation forces took it over, it served as a police headquarters from 1948 and as the Osaka City Museum from 1960 to 2001. Since 2017 it has been MIRAIZA OSAKA-JO, with restaurants and shops. Food at MIRAIZA

Former Arsenal Chemical Analysis Lab

A red-brick, two-story building in a Neo-Renaissance style, finished in 1919 and designed by the army architect Oshio Akira. It is one of the few buildings left from the Osaka Army Arsenal, and weapons research and chemical tests were probably done here. It escaped the air raids and was later used by government offices, Osaka University's engineering school and the Self-Defense Forces. Along the path south of it lies a huge lump of iron, thought to be slag from the arsenal's furnaces. We will add its exact spot to the map after our visit in November.

• 3. Osaka Army Arsenal. It grew from an arms works set up here in 1870 and became one of the largest military factories in modern Japan, spreading over what is now Osaka Business Park, Morinomiya and land east of the Loop Line. The 1945 air raids destroyed it. Its last main building was taken down in 1981, and Osaka-jo Hall stands on the site. Osaka-jo Hall
• Air defense operations room. Built south of the inner citadel, probably in 1943, for the Central District Army. From here the army tracked enemy planes, ordered fighters up and sounded air raid warnings. It had three floors above ground and one below, with walls over a meter thick. It survived the bombing and was so solid that pulling it down in 1970 was very hard work.
• Osaka Kokubokan (national defense hall). An army exhibition hall that opened in 1940 to raise support for the war, with dioramas, weapons, aircraft and tanks to try, and photos and belongings of soldiers killed in action. It closed around 1942, became a dormitory for the women's air defense signal unit in 1943, and burned in the 1945 air raids.
• Josei shooting range. An army live-fire range outside the south outer moat. In 1932 it became a long concrete tunnel. After the war the Ground Self-Defense Force used it until it was removed in 1968.
• Army prison. The site of the Edo-period guard captain's residence, south of the inner moat, became an army prison after 1868. During the war the 4th Division headquarters was there.
• Hitsujisaru-yagura. An Edo-period corner turret that had survived the fire of 1868 burned in an air raid. Its site is in Nishinomaru Garden. Nishinomaru Garden
• Kishu Palace. A palace moved here from Wakayama Castle in 1885 and used by the army. It survived the war but burned on September 12, 1947, while the castle was under occupation. Its garden is now the Japanese garden south of the Main Tower. Map

Osaka Castle history · The castle at the end of the samurai era · Stone walls walk