Jet lagged and happy in Osaka

October 23, 2023

We are moving pretty slowly today but it is time to get some fresh air and have a meal. But first a ride around the vast Osaka Castle grounds and then food. A restaurant we really enjoyed last trip, Zen-ya, is just around the corner. It is a perfect place for our first meal. Everything on the menu is a set menu, reasonably priced and offers excellent food. The top price is about 1000 yen (roughly $9 Cdn).

Across from our hotel and kitty-corner to Osaka Castle are two landmark buildings…on the left: the Osaka Museum of History and on the right NHK, the national broadcast company for Japan. We want to tour both of these before we leave Osaka.

The grounds of Osaka Castle are vast with forested areas, gardens, playing fields, a theatre, museum,cafes, etc. It is truly a public space, well used and entry is free. It is not unusual to find a festival or event going on. But something we really enjoy are the variety of animals that people bring with them for the day. Cats, dogs, birds of prey, owls etc. But this is a first….this woman is walking her turtle and a baby turtle on leash.

From what I could see, the turtle is mounted on a small platform with tiny wheels. It is hard to see, but the baby turtle is sitting in the palm of her hand and it is set up in the same way for a walk. Obviously its platform is tiny but also with wheels.

The wee turtle is about to go on a short walk.

I think the turtle was enjoying the sun and the attention. It kept up quite a pace. It uses its feet to propel itself but the wheels enhance its ability….kind of like us, adding a motor to our trikes and tandem!

The Tori Gates welcome you to a Buddhist shrine on the Castle grounds. Weddings are sometimes held here and this special location holds great significance for an auspicious start to their married life.

Goshuin Cho are books that you can buy to collect stamps and calligraphy when visiting a temple or shrine. Shown below are the ones we bought which depict an image of the temple…one with cherry blossoms for spring and the other with the autumn foliage for fall.

Goshuin stamps with calligraphy added by a monk denote the shrine visited. This is done for you when you visit the temple. The book itself is called Goshuin Cho. This tradition goes back over 1300 years. Spring and fall at this shrine are represented on the cover.

This is the front cover of the Goshuin Cho….Japanese books are read back to front, so for Westerners it seems like this is the back cover. Sounds confusing but it does make sense.

At Temples and Shrines you can present your Goshuin Cho and they will stamp it in red with the image of the shrine and then they write in calligraphy a description with black ink. It makes for a beautiful keepsake and gatherer of memories.

People wait their turn to pray and pay their respects. We are really looking forward to touring the island of Shikoku where we will be following the route of Pilgrimage where there are 88 Buddhist temples you can visit. We will ride the perimeter of Shikoko’s coastline of 1500 km and these temples will make our experience of touring special. We have read that it is like the Camino in Spain but preferable in some ways as it is less well known.

One of the buildings on the temple grounds where you can pray. The ritual is personal and reflective: you make an offering if you wish, bow twice, clap twice and spend the time you need.

Our trikes are enjoying the view as well.

When you visit the temple or shrine, there is a building like this where you get your book stamped and the calligrapher writes in your Goshuin Cho.

No matter where you are on the grounds, the Castle is an impressive sight.

You can pay for a trip around the Castle moat.

The bridge across the moat to the Castle.

You also have the option of riding around the grounds on this train. For us, we find our trikes offer the best option.

There are many beloved wild cats at the Castle Park who are fed by loyal locals. The signs warn you that if you injure or kill a cat, you will have to pay a steep fine or worse.

Kit Kat bars are very popular in Japan. This has been taken to another level with different flavours. We tried this one with matcha instead of the conventional chocolate. We went into a store and saw 8 different types…strawberry, milk tea, licorice etc

Zen-ya is a very good restaurant near our hotel. In the front window, plastic replicas of the items on their menu are surprisingly life like.

It is an interesting industry in Japan creating replicas of menus in plastic.

Mary Ellen chose this set meal of miso soup loaded with chicken and veg, shrimp in a special sauce, rice and breaded chicken. All was tasty but the shrimp were amazing.

Barry’s meal...miso soup, burdock root salad, rice and a pork dish.

A close up ofBarry’s main dish…breaded pork in a sizzling egg/cheese sauce. Yum

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