Building

           

                       Description

               The Main Tower is located in the center of the castle, covering one square kilometer (roughly). Supported by two walls of rock, the Main Tower is built on two raised platforms of landfill. A special technique is used for piling the rocks, called Burdock piling.

               Burdock piling(牛蒡積), pronounced, "gobouzumi", is a Japanese building technique named after the resemblance of the Burdock plant. This was used to build ishi gaki (石垣,), or stone walls. Many Japanese castles use this technique, just like the Osaka Castle does.

               The builders put large rocks together on a mound. They then fill in the cracks with small pebbles. The process of filling the stone is called kuri ishi (栗石). This means chestnut stones. It was named this because of the small size of the pebbles. No mortar was used, meaning the rocks could move slightly during earthquakes. This allowed for minimal damage on the rocks. This technique evolved from disordered piling.

                  The central castle building is five stories on the outside and eight stories on the inside. It is built on top a stone foundation to protect its occupants from sword-bearing attackers. The castle grounds cover approximately 60,000 square meters or 15 acres. The grounds contain thirteen structures and buildings designed as Important Cultural Assets by the Japanese government. The buildings include :

• Ote-mon (Gate)
• Sakura-mon (Gate)
• Ichiban-yagura (Turret)
• Inui-yagura (Turret)
• Rokuban-yagura (Turret)
• Sengan Turret
• Tamon Turret
• Kinmeisui (Well)
• Kinzo (Storehouse)
• Enshogura (Gunpowder Magazine)
• Three sections of castle wall all located around Ote-mon