Osaka Castle Coloring Pages

A Castle Right in the Middle of Osaka

Osaka Castle is a castle in Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture. The green-roofed main keep towers right in the middle of Osaka Castle Park, surrounded by tall buildings.
When you look at it from the outside, you can see 5 overlapping roof layers. Inside, it has 8 floors, and you can look out over the city of Osaka from the very top floor!

The Castle Built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi

The first person to build Osaka Castle was Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Construction started in 1583.
But the main keep standing today is not that original one. Toyotomi's main keep burned down in 1615. The Tokugawa family rebuilt it, but that main keep burned down too after a lightning strike in 1665. For over 260 years after that, Osaka Castle did not have a main keep at all!

Rebuilt with Donations from the People

The current main keep was finished in 1931. Surprisingly, the money for this work came from donations given by the people of Osaka!
So many people wanted to help that they raised their target of 1.5 million yen in about half a year. The strong wish of the people of Osaka to see their castle again brought the main keep back to life!

Different Eras on Top and Bottom

If you look closely at the main keep, you can see that only the top floor has a different wall color.
The bottom 4 floors have white walls from the Tokugawa era. Only the 5th layer at the very top has black walls inspired by the Toyotomi era. It is a rare castle that shows two different eras in just one building!

Golden Tigers and Roof Shachihoko

Take a look under the railing on the top floor. Golden tigers are lined up facing sideways. You can also find cranes decorating the roof gables.
At both ends of the very top of the roof, shachihoko (mythical fish-like tigers) shine in bright gold. Green roofs, white walls, and gold decorations. These 3 colors are the best things to see at Osaka Castle!

Stone Walls and Moats That Still Remain

The main keep was rebuilt, but the stone walls and moats are still the same as in the Edo period. When you look at the stone walls under the main keep, you can see huge stones piled up without any gaps.
Some of these giant stones weigh dozens of tons! It is fun to think about how people moved them back when there were no big machines.
The moats are very wide, too. The widest part on the east side is about 90 meters across. When you look at the stone walls and moats around it—not just the main keep—you can tell how massive Osaka Castle really was!

The Roofs Are Blue-Green

The roofs of Osaka Castle are made of copper plates, not tiles, so they have a blue-green color. Copper turns this color as time goes by.
If you use only green, it might look too heavy. First, color gently with light green, and then layer green on top to get closer to the real look. Leaving the curved edges of the roofs bright will make the shape show up nicely.

Leave the Walls White

The walls on the bottom four floors are white plaster. Leave these parts white like the paper, and just add light gray where the shadows are.
Only the top floor has dark walls. If you color this part dark gray or dark brown, you can easily tell the top from the bottom, and it will look real! Don't color it pitch-black, or you won't be able to see the gold decorations. Keep it a little lighter.

Start Gold Decorations with Ochre

The tigers, cranes, shachihoko, and the edges of the roof gables are gold! Color them with ochre first, and then layer brown on just one side to make them look like real metal.
The most important trick is to leave the brightest parts white like the paper. You can make things look gold by showing the difference between bright and dark spots!

Sharpen Your Pencil for the Tiny Windows

There are many tall, thin windows lined up. Sharpen your colored pencil before you start coloring these! If the tip is round, you might go outside the lines.
Color the inside of the windows dark gray or dark brown. This makes a great match with the white walls and makes your picture look neat and tidy!

Make Stone Walls and Trees Lighter in the Back

For the stone walls, add a little brown over gray to make them look like real stones. Don't color everything the same color—make just a few stones darker to look more natural.
For the trees, use dark green in the front and light green in the back. Dark in the front, light in the back. Just doing that makes your picture look deep!

Donations Raised in Half a Year

The money to rebuild the Osaka Castle main keep in 1931 came from donations given by the people of Osaka. The goal was 1.5 million yen. That was a huge amount of money back then.
But so many people rushed to give that they raised it all in about half a year. That shows just how many people were waiting for their castle to come back to Osaka.

A Castle Made of Concrete

The current Osaka Castle main keep is not made of wood. It was built with steel-reinforced concrete! That makes it strong against fires and earthquakes. It even has an elevator inside.
It looks like the old castle on the outside, but it is a modern building on the inside. The main keep built in 1931 is now a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan. It is rare for a rebuilt castle to become a cultural property!

A Main Keep Lost to Lightning

In the Tokugawa period, the main keep burned down after a lightning strike on New Year's Day in 1665. They say the lightning hit the shachihoko—the dragon-fish statue—on the north side of the roof.
After that, there was no main keep for over 260 years. That means the people of Osaka in the Edo period lived their whole lives looking at an Osaka Castle without a main keep.

Giant Stones in the Walls

The stone walls under the main keep are the exact same ones built in the Edo period. Some of the giant stones weigh tens of tons!
Back when there were no heavy machines, people brought them by boat and pulled them up using wooden rollers. The stone walls are actually the oldest part of Osaka Castle!