Osaka Castle: thumbs up or thumbs down?

I have one day in Osaka, is the castle a good way to spend the majority of the day? Or is something else more fun? Not interested in Universal studios. I like historical, traditional, cultural things.

Depends where else and what you are doing. We visited Osaka Castle and it is nice as it was re-built after WW2. However, we liked the street magician (he was excellent), play-acting samurai and the local rock bands more than the castle (we didn't bother paying to go in).

[Maybe I've seen Godzilla crash into it too many times in the movies :) ]

The large castle grounds with the huge walls and moats and the beautiful exterior of the main keep are worth a visit alone. Recently, I really enjoyed a visit there in the evening when the keep was lit up - a beautiful sight.

The interior of the castle is not original. Just a museum. For that reason it has always been a bit disappointing to me. But if you are in Osaka and interested in history, then a visit is worthwhile, in my opinion.

Also, if you like castles but have not been to Himeji yet, then I recommend to make a side trip there, instead:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3501.html

We loved walking around Osaka Castle and the grounds, moat etc. As we knew it was rebuilt we didn�ft go inside it (we have been inside Inuyama and Matsumoto).
It is especially beautiful in Cherry blossom time, if you are lucky to be there then.
But you would not need a full day there...only an hour or 2 at the most: we went there after being to Nara for the day.

Thanks everyone! Himeji Castle looks amazing, is it under construction still?

I'm not sure about Himeji but I think the restoration finishes soon. I thought Osaka castle was pretty boring, Hikone castle was much more interesting and Matsumoto more interesting again, though the grounds are pretty plain.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3501.html
Himeji fully reopens on March 27

I'd happily give Ōsaka Castle a thumbs up. Despite the fact that the tower is a concrete reconstruction (and not a particularly authentic-looking one at that), the soaring ishigaki bordering the moats are amongst my favourites in Japan, and this helps Ōsaka Castle rank quite favourably - in my book at least - alongside even castles with original towers like Himeji and Matsumoto. (Of course, when it comes to ishigaki it's probably hard to beat Kumamoto, but that's way off course from Ōsaka and only worth going to if you have a rail pass...)

I'd suggest digging up photos from the web and judging whether it's worth a visit. Here are a few of my own (scroll down towards the latter half of the post, after the museum bit):

https://withinstrikingdistance.wordpress.com/2014/08/25/field-report-o...

And I agree with a previous commenter's assessment re: the time required. It's in the middle of the city with easy public transportation access so a couple of hours should be fine.

Cheers.

Osaka Castle is one of the most beautiful castles in Japan ... from a distance. But the park is nice and opportunities to photograph the castle from different angles are very numerous. Do not forget to visit the temple dedicated to Toyotomi Hideyoshi. http://www.soleilrouge.org/osaka-jo-le-chateau-de-osaka