A postcard from the edge (of the moat)

     

Well, here we are with another vintage postcard. It’s post-dated (19)27, so there’s little mystery surrounding its age. Had it been undated, I could only have guessed that it was no newer than 1945. I think we all know what happened in 1945. For anyone not so sure, most of the buildings shown below were lost in WWII bombing.

The castle is of course Ōsaka castle. The two-story building on the right edge, overlooking a non long-jumpable moat, is the Inui Turret. The thing of real interest to me is the series of buildings to the left. Yes, the buildings that burnt to the ground in WWII.

At the extreme left is the three-story Fushimi Turret. Then a little to its right is the Kyōbashi-Guchi. The Kyōbashi-Guchi being a complex of gates & hall-like turrets. (Teaser: We’ll be seeing more of the Kyōbashi-Guchi in the near future.)

For more information about Kyōbashi-Guchi and/or Ōsaka castle in general, check out Ōsaka’s Megaliths and Postcard – barracks of Osaka Castle.

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  • Rekishi no Tabi

    Total coolness. These postcards are awesome!

  • Anonymous

    Thx, I’m glad others are getting some enjoyment out of them. I think I’ve posted six or seven so far. Still plenty to go though.

    I picked them all up on Ebay rather cheaply. Well, perhaps not, but cheaper than Yahoo Auction Japan.

  • http://twitter.com/Tornadoes28 Jon L

    Very cool. Is that smoke in the photo in the back? Sad the old buildings are gone. Stupid war.

  • Anonymous

    It absolutely does look like plumes of smoke. It almost gives it the feel of post-battle. But, given the fact that the images is on something as touristy as a postcard, I can only assume there’s nothing out of the ordinary going on.