Osaka Castle

Osaka Castle (大坂城 or 大阪城,, Ōsaka-jō) is a Japanese castle in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan. The castle is one of Japan's most famous landmarks and it played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century of the Azuchi-Momoyama period.

Description

The main tower of Osaka Castle is situated on a plot of land roughly one square kilometer. It is built on two raised platforms of landfill supported by sheer walls of cut rock, using a technique called Burdock piling, each overlooking a moat. The central castle building is five stories on the outside and eight stories on the inside, and built atop a tall stone foundation to protect its occupants from attackers.

The castle grounds, which cover approximately 60,000 square meters (15 acres), contain thirteen structures that have been designated as important cultural assets by the Japanese government, including:

Osaka

Osaka (大阪市, Ōsaka-shi) (Japanese pronunciation: [oːsaka];  listen ) is a designated city in the Kansai region of Japan. It is the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and the largest component of the Keihanshin Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Japan and among the largest in the world with over 19 million inhabitants. Situated at the mouth of the Yodo River on Osaka Bay, Osaka is the second largest city by the daytime population after Tokyo's 23 wards and the third largest city by the nighttime population after Tokyo's 23 special wards and Yokohama in Japan, serving as a major economic hub.

Historically a merchant city, Osaka has also been known as the "nation's kitchen" (天下の台所, tenka no daidokoro) and served as a center for the rice trade during the Edo period.

History

Prehistory to the Kofun period

Some of the earliest signs of human habitation in the Osaka area at the Morinomiya ruins (森ノ宮遺跡, Morinomiya iseki) comprise shell mounds, sea oysters and buried human skeletons from the 5th–6th centuries BC. It is believed that what is today the Uehonmachi area consisted of a peninsular land with an inland sea in the east. During the Yayoi period, permanent habitation on the plains grew as rice farming became popular.

Osaka (disambiguation)

Osaka or Ōsaka may refer to:

Osaka may also refer to:

Locations

Japan

United States

Fictional characters

Osaka (album)

Osaka is the only album put out by The Kickovers. It was released on April 23, 2002 on the Fenway Recordings record label.

Some promotional copies of Osaka went out with the band's original name, The Brakes. Shortly after, they had to change their name because of a New York band called The Break.

The album includes one cover, "Hanging on the Telephone", which was originally performed by The Nerves, although a cover of it by Blondie was more popular. "The Good Life" is also the name of a Weezer song, so some fans may have expected it to be a cover, especially since bassist Mikey Welsh was a member of Weezer prior to The Kickovers. Although not a member, Dave Aarnoff of The Shods performed bass on several tracks of the album.

Track listing

All songs by Nate Albert unless otherwise noted.