Osaka Arsenal Loading Gate

This gate and its moat mark where raw materials once entered the Osaka Arsenal, a sprawling munitions complex that operated on the eastern side of Osaka Castle from 1870 until the end of World War II, producing artillery and military equipment for the Imperial Japanese Army. Supplies arrived directly from nearby seaports via the area's network of rivers and canals. The history of the site goes back even further, as the eastern castle district stored and produced weaponry throughout the Edo period. In January 1868, during the Meiji Restoration, a gunpowder refinery explosion here triggered fires that destroyed much of the castle complex during days of looting and chaos.