I can't believe its been 8 years since my first and only visit to Osaka Castle! I found myself having a free day in Osaka so I went back to check it out.
Osaka Castle's keep is unfortunately just a rebuilt concrete approximation of the original keep, which was burnt down and rebuilt a number of times. The current version is made from concrete and steel and houses a museum devoted in large part to the castle's original lord, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of the Shogun who unified Japan in the 16th Century.

There's much more to a good Japanese castle than just the tower, the best ones have a good system of fortifications... in this case very high walls and both an inner and outer moat.

Unforutnately going during the day, I was treated to an unending stream of noisy school kids from 6 to 16 years old... kind of diminished my enjoyment of the museum.... stupid kids learning about history! :-P

Nice juxtaposition between old and new Osaka...
As this is a reconstruction and a museum inside, it doesn't have many windows on the way up, the only view is from the top observation floor -

The tiger dolphin shark thing... the building on the right foreground used to be a military headquarters during the Imperial days (after the tower was burnt down before the end of the War). Then it was turned into the Osaka City museum until a much newer, fancier building was built a few blocks away.

Here's the "proof I was actually here" pic. Less hair than my 2003 visit. :-P

Speaking of non-full heads of hair... a statue to Toyotomi Hideyoshi nearby the inner grounds.
Anyway, check out Osaka Castle if you happen to be in the area. Its worth the trouble to see the grounds and the museum... but of course is missing the most important part... seeing what a real castle looks like from the inside. :-P