The city of Sakai

The medieval port

Sakai is an old market town located about fifteen kilometers from Osaka. Grown by trade, like its big sister in Kansai, the city offers the curious visitor a glimpse of ancient history found as you stroll through the streets.

The atmosphere of freedom that reigned in Sakai then attracted many great personalities of the time such as the eccentric Buddhist monk Ikkyû. Sen no Rikyû, considered the greatest tea ceremony master in Japanese history, was also originally a local merchant.

The city had a great impact on the political game of the time, not only because of its wealth but also by forging links with the Europeans who landed for the first time on the island.

It thus hosted some of the first firearms manufacturers, with Oda Nobunaga as a client, who relied on them to unify the country.

Oda Nobunaga, the Japanese Napoleon.

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The city has several known temples. The monk Gyoki, a great figure of the Nara period, thus founded the Ebara temple in Sakai, where even today students go to place their wishes of success in a handkerchief which they hang on the walls of the temple.

The other large temple in the city is Myokoku-ji, one of the largest religious buildings of the Nichiren sect of Buddhism where we find the Great Cycas of Japan, a tree over 1100 years old, a natural monument of Japan since 1923, and which would have been almost destroyed by Oda Nobunaga before being returned to Myokoku-ji.

Emperor Nintoku's Tomb is one of the largest existing structures in the world and rivals the Giza Pyramid.

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