{"id":630,"date":"2007-11-08T14:14:58","date_gmt":"2007-11-08T05:14:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2007-11-08\/630"},"modified":"2007-11-08T14:15:20","modified_gmt":"2007-11-08T05:15:20","slug":"lots-of-rocks-at-osaka-castle-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2007-11-08\/630","title":{"rendered":"Lots of Rock at Osaka Castle Park"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 18<\/span>-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 200mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f\/5.6, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

As you might have noticed in my posts about the paper airplanes<\/a> and impromptu portraits<\/a> in\nOsaka Castle Park, it's a place<\/span> with a lot<\/span> of carved granite. A lot<\/i>.<\/p>\n\n

As the name “Osaka Castle Park” might imply to the astute\nreader, it's a park<\/b> in Osaka<\/b> Japan that contains a\ncastle<\/b>. Despite having lived not very far away on and off for the\nbetter part of 20 years, my visit last weekend was my first. I'd never<\/span> been\nvery interested in seeing it because it's not very old – it was built\nabout 20 years ago, as the current Wikipedia entry on Osaka\nCastle<\/a> notes:<\/p>\n\n

\n1997: Restoration was completed.<\/b> The castle is a concrete<\/span> reproduction\n(including elevators) of the original; the inside does not resemble a\nJapanese<\/span> castle at all.\n“<\/span><\/p>\n\n

However, the site itself – the huge park with all the moats and\nramparts of huge cut stone – turns out to be a wonderful<\/span> place to\nvisit on a pleasant<\/span> afternoon. And while<\/span> the castle is modern, much of the\nreset (the aforementioned moats and ramparts) date back almost 400 years.\nQuoting again from the Wikipedia entry:<\/p>\n\n

\n1620<\/b>: Tokugawa Hidetada began to reconstruct and rearm Osaka Castle. He built<\/span> a new<\/span> elevated main tower, five stories on the outside and eight\nstories on the inside, and assigned the task of constructing new walls to\nindividual samurai clans. The walls<\/span> built in the 1620s still stand today,\nand are made out of interlocked granite boulders with no mortar whatsoever;\nthey are held together solely by each other. Many of the stones were\nbrought from rock quarries in the Seto Inland Sea, and bear inscribed\ncrests of the various families who laid them into the walls.\n“<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Their authenticity is an added bonus, because even when I thought<\/span> that\nit was all a modern<\/span> reconstruction, it was an impressive and beautiful\nsite\/sight. My only complaint<\/span> might be that at the moment, the water in the\nmoats seems a bit<\/span> low and stagnant (and hence ugly), so that could have\nbeen better.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 18<\/span>-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>350 sec, f\/3.8, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nViewing the Formidable Inner Moat<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

As you might expect of a castle, the place was designed for defense, and\nto both intimidate and impress visitors. The site is<\/span> huge, with two\nconcentric moats, each with its own multi-story rampart of cut stone,\nleading up to a castle<\/span> that itself sits atop a further<\/span> three-story wall of\nsmoothly-cut rock.<\/p>\n\n

Some areas of the moat are currently dry, but to give you an idea of the\nimpressive layout, in the picture below I colored<\/span> in the moat areas to make\nthem easily visible. The castle<\/span> itself is marked with red....<\/p>\n\n

\n<\/a>\n
Google Maps<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

Thus, if you had it in your mind to lay siege to the castle and were\nactually able to get across the moat and up the sheer rock face of the\nrampart (all without getting speared or arrowed), you then faced another\nmoat above which this view would present itself.....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 18<\/span>-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 56mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f\/4.8, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nView From Between the Moats<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

That view might leave those that are more warrior than worrier with a\nsense<\/span> of “almost there!” but they would be fatally mistaken, because\nafter<\/i> crossing the moat and after<\/i> scaling the wall, they\nwould indeed be done with the watter barriers, but would still have narrow\nwell-defended paths and four stories worth of wall in their way just<\/i>\nto get to the base of the three-story rampart upon which the castle\nactually sits.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 18<\/span>-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 82mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f\/5, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nNao Holds up the Wall<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 18<\/span>-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 60mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f\/4.8, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nWeathered<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

One small area of the park was littered with stones both big and small,\nmaking it a wonderful<\/span> place for the kids to play (and for family portraits<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 85mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f\/2.8, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nNaomi, Kana, and Emi Play<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 85mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>640 sec, f\/1.4, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nEmi Climbs while Nao Lounges<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

At times you walk right beside the huge walls, the bases of which are\ncomposed of huge stone. The aforementioned “intimidated and impressed”\nfeeling is still in effect.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 85mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>500 sec, f\/1.4, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nDwarfed by the Base of the Wall<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Once you finally wind your way to the top plateau, you find the fake\ncastle on its three-story rampart....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 18<\/span>-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 18mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>90 sec, f\/3.5, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nBase of the Castle Proper<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

(You can see an external glass-sided elevator to the right of center)<\/p>\n\n

Being fake, I still<\/span> wasn't interested in the castle itself, but the\nmiles<\/i> of rock wall were fascinating. Turning around, the view was of\na section<\/span> of the inner moat that was currently without water...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 18<\/span>-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 55mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>20 sec, f\/4.8, ISO 400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nInner Moat in Drydock<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 18<\/span>-200mm f\/3.5-5.6 VR @ 36mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>80 sec, f\/4.2, ISO 800 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nOld and New<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

The lip of the rampart above the inner moat had both old and new stone. I'm not sure<\/span> what the notches in the rock are for. They're too small to\nprovide protection to archers, and they're no good for pouring hot oil,\nunless you wanted to pour it all over your own feet. At first<\/span> blush, they\nactually look like something to hold a rope<\/span> that would allow someone to\nscale the wall, but that makes no sense, so I don't<\/span> know.<\/p>\n\n

In the fading light after sunset, I made this<\/span> fuzzy handheld shot of a\nsection<\/span> of the inner moat that still had a bit<\/span> of water.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 85mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>25 sec, f\/1.4, ISO 800 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nBusiness Side of the Inner Moat<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As you might have noticed in my posts about the paper airplanes and impromptu portraits in Osaka Castle Park, it's a place with a lot of carved granite. A lot.<\/p>

As the name \"Osaka Castle Park\" might imply to the astute reader, it's a park<\/b> in Osaka<\/b> Japan that contains a castle<\/b>. Despite having lived not very far away on and off for the better part of 20 years, my visit last weekend was my first. I'd never been very interested in seeing it because it's not very old – it was built about 20 years ago, as the current [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}