Osaka Part 1!

The other big city near Nagoya that I really felt obliged to visit while in Japan was Osaka. One must see attraction, as with most cities in Japan, is Osaka Castle. On the day that I visited there was some sort of festival so it was pretty busy with tourists and Osaka-ites alike.  I circled around the grounds, but I didn't actually go inside. The castle was pretty cool looking, perched right in the middle of a large area, it was hard to get a good shot from far away because of the trees. Most had start changing colors which was a nice little signifier of cooler days to come.

After the castle, I walked to the Osaka Museum of History, just outside of the castle grounds. It was hands down one of the coolest museums that I have ever been too. It was really inviting, laid out really well with lots of 3D exhibits, mannequins, and videos and sounds and animatronics all melded together in the best possible way. Great experience, even without being able to read all of the explanations. Great for kids too I think, just because it is so visually appealing. Really glad I got to spend some time there. And photography was permitted so I have a few snaps to prove it's awesomeness!

Osaka's most famous claim to fame is probably Dotonbori. Popular at night when all the store fronts are lit up, Dotonbori is a row of shops running along the canal in Osaka.  Historically a theatre district (Osaka is also famous for its prominence in Bunraku and Kabuki, two styles of Japanese drama) now it is now a very exciting tourist shopping strip.  Probably the most famous sight in the town is the GLICO man. I knew I was close by the hordes of cameras and people posing in flying stances. I was more than gutted to find out that the illuminated sign board has been replaced by a just normal poster with a Japanese actress in the same pose as the running man with the Katakana for GLICO written on her red dress. Turns out the GLICO man is undergoing a face lift with the addition of new LED lights. Read more about him here!

 

Rest of Osaka later this week. Chao for now.

Inuyama

Once a year each group at work goes on a company trip as a fun outside of work bonding experience. Back at the end of September, we got to go to Inuyama, just a short train ride outside of Nagoya for ours.

Our first stop was Inuyama Castle, one of only twelve original castles left standing in Japan (not majorly reconstructed). The outside looks very similar to the reconstructed ones so kudos to the architects who helped work on the restored castles. Inside was much less tourist friendly, lots of steep staircases and narrow hallways which gives it a much more authentic feel for life inside of a castle. It wasn't really meant for a fun day trip, it was meant for military fortification. Highlight was probably the veranda around the top level that you could walk around that gave a pretty good view of the city.

Our second stop was Urakuen Garden and Tea House. There was a pretty walking path around the serene garden and we stopped at one of the tea houses to have a proper tea ceremony. Good to experience, very interesting. And tasty! Didn't get too many pictures, but here is the tea house. Japanese tea ceremonies are an integral part of the culture, with many specific gestures and orders to follow. They are important that there is an entire website devoted entirely to the art of tea ceremonies. Click here for link!

Our last stop was Ukai fishing on the Kiso River. Instead of using fishing rods or nets, these fishermen use live birds to fish for them. I was a bit worried when I first read about it, just from a general ethics standpoint, but it is very ritualistic and ceremonial and the birds are treated quite well both before, during, and after the process. And I'm sure these animals are quite used at this point, their ancestors have being doing it for hundreds of years now. It was all done at dark so it was pretty cool visual.

Cool trip with cool people all around. Here are a few more pictures for the road. Cheers!

Tokyo Part 3!

Tokyo is also really good at 'towns' and 'streets' little alcoves in the city that are dedicated to selling or showing one type of thing. Akihabara is probaly the most famous of these towns. Known for being a mecca of electrical shops, as soon as you get out of the station, Akhihabara delivers a full jolt of energy (excuse the pun, I couldn't help myself). Your senses are overcome with bright lights and loud noises, masses of tourists maneuver through nerdy guys yelling out amazing offers on the latests gadgets and pretty girls in maid outfits handing out flyers for their kitschy cafes. Not really my cup of tea, but definitely glad I saw it.

After Akihabara I went to a town that was more my style, Jinbocho, nicknamed the Used Book Store Street. I suppose I was imagining this winding cobblestone street with rickety wooden bookstalls under aging awnings with a nice little local cafe to provide some home cooked comfort food. I thought I was in the wrong place when I got out and saw a normal metropolis street with a decent vehicle traffic running through the street light intersection and a large Starbucks gracing the far corner.

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that all of the stores that weren't food shops were in fact used book stores, dozens of them, ranging from contemporary bargain shops to pricey, antique vendors. One of the stores had an entire section devoted to Technical Textbooks in English. I think the best way to describe it is the perfect place to spend a nippy autumn afternoon with a nice hot latte strolling leisurely down the street, in and out of these paperback paradises.

 

My last stop was the Imperial Palace. It was a lot like the Kyoto Imperial Grounds - open, lots of gravel pathways and little gardens between all the stone fortresses. Lots of tourists here, it's proximity to Tokyo Station makes it very accessible, and the free entrance is certainly a perk. Fun tidbit, in case you didn't know, Japan is currently the only country in the world to still have an acting emperor. Japan is a constitutional monarchy though, like the UK, so Emperor Akihito is more of a figurehead, but still a pretty cool title to hold. No emperor sightings to report of this trip unfortunately. I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.