Q 01/05

Only Tokyo and which other city have more residents than Osaka?

A) Nagoya

B) Yokohama

C) Sapporo

D) Fukuoka

Answer · why

B) Yokohama

Yokohama, Tokyo's neighbour, is the larger city today, yet in 1925 Osaka was the most populous city in Japan and the sixth largest in the world.

Q 02/05

What do the kanji in the name Ōsaka literally mean?

A) Wide river mouth

B) Big rice field

C) Large slope

D) Great harbour

Answer · why

C) Large slope

Large slope is the literal reading; the second kanji can also mean hill. A popular story says the old 'slope' character was dropped in the Meiji era b...

Q 03/05

By what ancient name was Osaka known when Emperor Kōtoku made it Japan's capital in 645?

A) Naniwa

B) Sakai

C) Asuka

D) Heijō

Answer · why

A) Naniwa

Naniwa's palace was lost for centuries until archaeologist Tokutarō Yamane unearthed its foundations just south of Osaka Castle, confirming the site i...

Q 04/05

Which warlord built Osaka Castle in 1583 on the site of a razed Buddhist fortress-temple?

A) Tokugawa Ieyasu

B) Oda Nobunaga

C) Toyotomi Hideyoshi

D) Takeda Shingen

Answer · why

C) Toyotomi Hideyoshi

Toyotomi Hideyoshi modelled the castle on Azuchi, the seat of his late master Oda Nobunaga, who had spent ten years besieging the fortress-temple that...

Q 05/05

How was the outside of Osaka Castle's original 1580s main tower decorated to impress visitors?

A) With silver leaf

B) With red lacquer

C) With gold leaf

D) With white plaster

Answer · why

C) With gold leaf

With gold leaf on its tiles and ornaments, the tower flaunted its builder's taste for gilding: he also owned a portable tea room covered in gold, carr...