Database: Osaka Castle

Hideyoshi decided to build a new fortress on the former site of Ishiyama, completing the main keep in 1583. This flatland castle, located on a small hill, was renamed Osaka, replacing the name Ishiyama. To expedite the construction, Hideyoshi mobilized a workforce of tens of thousands, completing the fortress in 1588, in a record time. The site, situated in the heart of the Yodo delta, was more favorable for trade compared to Nobunaga's old castle, Azuchi, which was isolated inland.

A city quickly developed at the foot of the castle, eventually surpassing the nearby city of Sakai. Hideyoshi also relocated major merchants from Sakai and Kyoto to Osaka, aiming to make it the economic center of the newly unified country. After Toyotomi Hideyoshi's death in 1598, Yodo-gimi, along with her son Hideyori and their close relatives, settled in Osaka Castle.

After 1600, Ieyasu guaranteed the Toyotomi family an income of 650,000 koku. However, relations between the Toyotomi and Tokugawa clans deteriorated, leading to the Tokugawa siege of Osaka Castle in 1614-1615, which resulted in the castle's destruction and the definitive end of the Toyotomi clan. The castle was reconstructed starting in 1620, and Osaka came under the direct control of the shogunate. By the 17th century, Osaka had become a highly active city, known as "the kitchen of the empire," and was the birthplace of the renowned Genroku era culture (1688–1704).