Q 01/05

Osaka ranks where among Japan's most populous cities proper?

A) Second

B) First

C) Third

D) Fifth

Answer · why

C) Third

Only Tokyo's special wards and Yokohama are bigger; with Kyoto and Kobe it forms the 19-million-strong Keihanshin metropolitan area.

Q 02/05

What does the name Ōsaka mean?

A) Wide river

B) Big rice field

C) Large hill or slope

D) Great harbour

Answer · why

C) Large hill or slope

The oldest written evidence of the name dates to 1496; the older kanji was dropped in 1868 partly because it could be read as 'samurai rebellion'.

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

The name survives in central districts such as Naniwa and Namba, and Naniwa was capital again briefly in 744–745.

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

Nobunaga had spent a decade besieging the Ishiyama Hongan-ji there; the new castle was modelled on his Azuchi Castle but was meant to surpass it.

Q 05/05

How was the outside of Hideyoshi's original main tower decorated to impress visitors?

A) With copper tiles

B) With black lacquer

C) With gold leaf

D) With painted dragons

Answer · why

C) With gold leaf

The keep had five storeys above ground and three underground.