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Hōkoku Shrine in Osaka Castle Park

Built by Meiji Emperor honoring Toyotomi Hideyoshi

When I visited Osaka Castle the other day, I had one more thing I wanted to see besides the castle itself. It was Hōkoku Shrine inside the Osaka Castle Park because I'd already visited the Toyokuni Shrine in Kyoto and both shrines were built (resurrected) by the order of the Meiji Emperor just after the Meiji Restoration in 1868 and enshrine Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the ruler of Japan who was the Tokugawa Shogunate's enemy. I find it interesting that the Tokugawa Shogunate considered Hideyoshi their strongest enemy and after his death destroyed everything related to him, including Osaka Castle. Yet, as soon as the Tokugawa Shogunate was overturned by the new Meiji government which consisted of pro-Hideyoshi clans, Hideyoshi's glory was resurrected! Ironic twist of fate. This shrine was built in 1879 by the order of the Meiji Emperor in Nakanoshima, Osaka, and was moved to the current location inside the Osaka Castle Park in 1961 overlooking the Osaka Castle, the best place for Toyotomi Hideyoshi who built the original Osaka Castle a long long time ago (1583).

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Find out more about Osaka Castle Park.

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