Osaka Castle turrets special opening (2026)
The Main Tower is a 1931 rebuild, but these turrets are the real thing: Edo-period buildings that survived the fire of 1868 and the air raids of 1945. In 2026 they open inside on set days. Now: Tamon-yagura and Sengan-yagura, weekends and holidays until November 29.
1 Tamon-yagura · 2 Sengan-yagura · 3 Inui-yagura (summer only) · T Ticket window at the Nishinomaru Garden entrance. Tap a number for walking directions.
Opening days in 2026
| Season | Turrets | Days |
|---|---|---|
| Spring | Tamon-yagura, Sengan-yagura | March 14 to May 24, weekends and holidays. Open every day March 28 to April 12 and April 29 to May 6. |
| Summer | Inui-yagura | July 18 to August 16, weekends and holidays |
| Autumn | Tamon-yagura, Sengan-yagura | September 5 to November 29, weekends and holidays. Open every day September 19 to 27. |
Hours: 10:00 to 16:30. Last entry 16:00; tickets on sale until 15:30. The opening can be called off for bad weather or work in the garden.
Tickets
| Ticket | Price |
|---|---|
| Turret ticket Turrets and Nishinomaru Garden | Adults (high school and older) 900 yen Junior high school and younger 300 yen |
| Main Tower combo Turrets, Nishinomaru Garden and the Main Tower | Adults 2,000 yen High school and university students 1,400 yen (student ID needed) No child price |
- Preschool children, and visitors with a Japanese disability certificate, enter free.
- Buy both tickets at the ticket window at the Nishinomaru Garden entrance, just north of Tamon-yagura.
- The combo ticket is also sold at the Main Tower ticket gate, but only from 9:00 to 14:30. Buy it there in the morning, then walk over to the turrets.
- Bought separately, the Main Tower (1,200 yen) and the turret ticket (900 yen) come to 2,100 yen, so the combo saves 100 yen for adults.
What you see inside
1. Tamon-yagura
A long turret built over the main gate in the square behind Otemon Gate, the way into the second bailey. First built around 1628, it burned after a lightning strike in 1783 and was rebuilt in 1848. It is the only turret of this long tamon style left at Osaka Castle.
- Three wooden rooms run over the gate. The middle one is about 70 tatami mats, the two beside it about 50 each.
- A corridor about 2.7 m wide runs along the wall facing Otemon, lined with gun ports.
- Above the gate is a spear drop: a slot for dropping spears on attackers trying to break through.
- About 14.7 m high, with 710 m² of floor space.
2. Sengan-yagura
A two-story corner turret guarding Otemon from the north, built in 1620 under the tea master and architect Kobori Enshu. During repairs in the 1960s, an ink inscription on a timber gave the exact day its pillars went up: the 13th day of the 9th month of 1620. With Inui-yagura, it is the oldest building in the castle.
- Each floor has four rooms inside a corridor that runs around the outside.
- You can hold a matchlock gun and aim through a gun port toward Otemon Gate.
- The name means "a thousand kan": Oda Nobunaga's soldiers, held off by a turret here when they attacked the temple that stood on this site, said they would pay a thousand kan of coins to take it.
3. Inui-yagura (summer only)
The northwest corner turret of the Nishinomaru area, also built in 1620 under Kobori Enshu. It is L-shaped, and both floors are the same size, which is rare. It could be seen from the south, west and north outside the moat, so it was called "the turret with three fronts".
Before you go
- The turrets are inside Nishinomaru Garden, so you can also walk the garden lawn and see Ensho-gura, a stone gunpowder store, from outside. Nishinomaru Garden
- Questions in Japanese: Osaka Castle Park Center, 06-6755-4146 (9:00 to 17:30).
Walk past all 13 original buildings · Main Tower tickets · Today's crowd estimate
Questions
Can you go inside the turrets at Osaka Castle?
Yes, on special opening days. In 2026, Tamon-yagura and Sengan-yagura open on weekends and holidays from March 14 to May 24 and from September 5 to November 29, and Inui-yagura opens on weekends and holidays from July 18 to August 16. Hours are 10:00 to 16:30.
How much is the Osaka Castle turret ticket?
900 yen for adults (high school students and older) and 300 yen for junior high school students and younger. It includes entry to Nishinomaru Garden. Preschool children enter free.
Is there a combo ticket for the Main Tower and the turrets?
Yes. The Main Tower combo ticket covers the Main Tower, the turrets and Nishinomaru Garden: 2,000 yen for adults and 1,400 yen for high school and university students. At the Main Tower ticket gate it is sold only from 9:00 to 14:30.
Written by Kyoya Fujioka. Dates, prices and building details from the Osaka Castle Park official flyer and guide for the 2026 YAGURA special opening.