Osaka

I said I'd get around to detailing that trip, so here goes. The first few days, we were in Osaka (It's actually a double "o" sound), or 大阪, as the Japanese write it. That means "big slope," but of the few Japanese folks I've asked about it, none actually knew what the second kanji was. I found out that they don't know because it is the old way of writing that character, which is now usually written 坂. So there's your history lesson.

Osaka is famous for not a whole lot, apparently. It sort of plays second fiddle to Tokyo, being historically just a big port town that was never capitol or anything. It does have a neat castle, though, creatively called Osaka Castle. So here are some pictures of that, from a distance.


Sorry that they are sideways, but apparently this computer just likes to ask whether you'd like to save changes or not without actually doing it, so it is unavoidable. The castle was pretty nice to see, but I didn't really feel like paying to see the museum inside as it was the second museum of the day and we were both already pretty tired.


This cat was just sitting near the castle and refused to pay any attention to Ris's mewling for it. She did this in spite of the fact that the last time she tried to call a cat like that, it just scratched her. Also, that cat had three legs. This one had all four, but wouldn't use them for anything.


I remember reading a science fiction story, I think it was 2001, but I'm not sure, in which a traveler from Earth ended up in some sort of alien-built fascimile of a human house, and there being things like cereal boxes, that were perfectly recreated, but they only contained some weird kind of blue stuff because the aliens knew what things looked like from broadcasts, but didn't know any of the stuff that they couldn't see, and, not being humans, could only guess at things like what food should look like.

I think that is what happened here. I think aliens were trying to build some kind of art here, no doubt in some scheme to evolve us, but really didn't get it and just kind of tried to imitate what they could without understanding aesthetics at all. This was in the park that contained the museum of ethnology, which Ris wanted to see, and which turned out to be pretty excellent, as museums go. In fact, I was still busy getting edumacated when she wanted to leave.
A couple days after we left Osaka, there was supposed to be some sort of Christmas celebration at the park, so they were setting up decorations like the amusing ones above.

Not quite, but good attempt, Japan.

There was some sort of abandoned fairground or something across from the park we went to. I think you could still go to it, but it seemed to be closed while we were there. This is taken from the monorail station we went through to get to the park. The public transportation in Osaka is pretty good, but not as good as that in Tokyo. Osaka basically requires you to take the subway most places instead of JR, which is just slightly more expensive. But whatever.


Outside our hotel. Weird.


Behold Shinsaibashi, or at least part of it, I think. This picture was taken a while ago. Shinsaibashi, 心斎橋, is a long shopping arcade/road in Osaka that has crazy lights and all. If you've ever been to similar areas in Tokyo, you know what is up, then. It gets absurdly crowded in the evening, and once everything starts closing, the subways get packed like sardines. That was uncomfortable.


Shinsaibashi intersects with Dotombori, 道頓堀, which is packed with eating places and is just as crazy. The local treats in Osaka are okonomiyaki, a pancake like dish containing cabbage and meat, along with whatever else you want to throw in, and takoyaki, which are basically a weird fried doughball with bits of octopus in it. Actually, there are two styles of okonomiyaki, Osaka- and Hiroshima-styles, with Hiroshima style using a lot more cabbage. I prefer Hiroshima style, but whatever floats your boat. So, we had some okonomiyaki one night and it was alright.

That's about it for Osaka. After that, we headed to Nara, which is pretty close and a much more historical city. So, there will be an update on that at some point. For now, enjoy this picture of a premium wheat beer I picked up today in Matsue while shopping for rice.