Osaka
We took a weekend trip to Osaka to visit an old friend of mine. She was a high school foreign exchange student who lived with my violin teach in Texas. Since she was very pregnant she asked us to come to her house for lunch. This would be our very first visit to a Japanese home.
We took the Nozomi (superexpress) Tokaido Shinkansen from Shinagawa station in Tokyo to Shin-Osaka station bright and early on Saturday morning. The trip of over 500 kilometers or over 300 miles (about the distance from SF to LA) took less than 3 hours including stops. We dozed off for most of the trip as it was an early Saturday morning for us but we went through Yokohoma, Nagoya and Kyoto before coming to Osaka. The trip was smooth, comfortable and quiet (and thankfully non-smoking which was a mistake I had made on my first ever shinkansen trip years ago). It was convenient since my friend’s house was off of a JR line stop so we bought tickets that worked all the way from Shibuya to her stop in Osaka.
My friend met us at the JR station nearest her house and led the way through winding alleys of the town to her house. It had a traditional Japanese tatami mat room for the dining room and a lovely garden in the back. In the middle of the tatami mat room was a traditional Japanese low table with “chairs” that sat on the floor and underneath the table was an electric blanket. Although it was somewhat strange for Henry and me, it was quite nice and toasty under the blanket. They really do have bathroom slippers in Japanese houses and it was a pretty cozy 2 story house – not too big, not too small. She had ordered a traditional Japanese meal for lunch which arrived in four large, beautiful lacquered boxes. Inside we found deconstructed sushi or chirashi, sashimi, tempura, fruit, mochi and other food. It was definitely the most elaborate lunch (and dinner) we’ve had anywhere yet in Japan. My friend also showed us the traditional Japanese dolls displayed for Girls’ Festival. They were detailed and beautiful (and expensive we later discovered at the department store). Afterwards, her husband and she was kind enough to accompany us into Osaka to show us some sights and to our hotel.
Osaka is famous for several things, the food, Osaka castle, the aquarium and did I mention the food? We were not disappointed. That night we had two of Osaka ’s specialties – takoyaki (grilled wheat flour balls filled with octopus) and okonomiyaki (essentially Japanese pizza). We wandered around the famous Osaka big signs, including the famous Glico sign and the giant crab sign.
The next morning we headed to the Osaka aquarium, called kaiyukan by the locals, and saw a LOT of kids. We also got to see some penguins, seals, otters, various tropical fish, giant sting rays and manta rays, huge whale sharks and amazing giant spider crabs! While we were mesmerized by the giant spider crabs, a wedding procession went through the aquarium.
After the aquarium, we stopped by Osaka castle and had more takoyaki as well as French fried yams and other goodies. Osaka castle is in the middle of Osaka castle park and was reconstructed beginning in 1928, during the WWII bombing raids by the US, the US military was kind enough not to bomb the castle directly (there were apparently bomb factories around the castle though), the reconstruction of the castle was completed in 1997 (including elevators!). The museum itself was ok (they had some nice armour, etc. on display) but the view from the top of the tower was well-worth it. You could look and see all across Osaka and we spied the plum garden next to the castle in bloom! There were so many people wandering about in the plum garden. The blossoms smelled wonderful and the colors were so beautiful. Here are just a few pictures we took.
After we had had our fill of the fragrant plum blossoms, we headed back to the JR station to catch our shinkansen back to Tokyo . Another almost 3 hours later, we were back to Tokyo .
