• Osaka is the second biggest city in Japan. Located in the Kansai Area, it is the home of excellent food like takoyaki, okonomiyaki, and yakisoba. But more than delicious snacks, Osaka has a lot of great places to enjoy! In this tour, you will visit the most famous one: Osaka Castle. This castle is located in a spacious area full of history and nature. Even if the complex is incredible to visit all year long, it is a magical place during the plum and cherry blossom season, from March to May. First, you will look at Sengan-Yagura Turret, one of its oldest remainings. Then, you will walk by the cute Hokoku Shrine and the traditional garden Nishinomaru, before enjoying a nice walk in Osaka Castle Park, a place full of plum and cherry trees. The next step will be Osaka Castle and its impressive panorama of the city. Finally, after passing by the cute Gokurakubashi Bridge, you will enjoy a boat promenade around the complex in a Gozabune boat and its golden roof.

After passing by the impressive Otemon Gate, you will reach one of the oldest remainings of Osaka Castle. Sengan-Yagura Turret is dating from the Edo period and bears a fabulous story. During the Sengoku period, the ancestor of the current Osaka Castle was occupied by Ishiyama Hongan-Ji, which was a fortress-temple created by the Ikkō-Ikki warriors. In 1576, the famous Oda Nobunaga and his army were facing the fortress. The turret was so well prepared they couldn't pass its defense! Angered, Oda Nobunaga promised a lot of money ("sen-gan-mon" in Japanese) to the one who will conquer the turret. This story named the turret, which became in 1620 an Important Cultural Asset of Japan.