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| Model of Hiroshima with the bombs explostion represented by the red ball |
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| A watch frozen at 0815 |
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| One of many letters of protest sent every time a bomb test takes place |
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| The memorial |
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| A bomb dome |
Our free map and brand new guide book which we very handily found in the hostels book exchange guided us through the central Hondori shopping arcade to a mall where there were several storeys of restaurants specializing in the local dish, Okonomiyaki. This pancake, cooked in front of you was filled with cabbage, been sprouts egg and bacon topped with a brown sauce which tasted similar to what we have in England. It was rapidly time to head off, we had no problem catching the neat traditional city trams to the train station. From there we took a flashy coach to Osaka through the scenic hilly countryside, itself dotted with the admirable architecture of the low rise traditional Japanese houses.
After a bowel of hot Udon noodles and a retro subway, we arrived at our basic Japanese style accommodation, consisting of mats and duvets on the floor of the 9th floor of a cheap hotel in the southern Part of Osaka, and hit the hay.
The first full day in Osaka was spent an hour outside the city, as we took a JR train (ie normal non bullet train) to Himiji. This small city, contains what is widely agreed to be Japans finest castle, the main body of which was built in the 17th century. However a five year renovation plan taking place up to 2015 meant the castle was sadly not on display, being covered by a large temporary tower block in which renovations were taking place. Having traveled such distance (and paid nearly £30 return on the train) we threw good money after bad and paid to walk round the grounds and few relatively minor parts which were open. This allowed us to go inside the tower block in which there was an exhibition explaining how the keep was going to be repaired(there was also a window which showed workers repairing the castle itself). Unfortunately, none of this did anything to lift the disappointment. That evening things improved, as we put the castle behind us and headed to the heart of the city, seeing some decent skyline in Kita, before riding the subway a few stops to Minami. Minami was an overload of neon with giant shop signs and adverts dominating the lanes and alleys around the Lantern lit Dotombori Canal. In the area we briefly strolled to the European street which was quiet(though it was only dusk) with its Italian restaurants, French cafes and Irish pubs then took some pictures and ate noodles in a restaurant just off the buzzing main neon lit street.
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| Castle covered by the tower block |
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| Never lost it! |
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| Skyline in Osaka |
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| Minimi |
To satisfy our castle hunger we spent the next day at Osaka Castle, Japan’s most visited tourist attraction. Osaka Jo, again a 17th century creation in its current form. It was incredible. Surrounded by two moats and thick castle walls whilst looked over by sturdy watchtowers, the main bailey had the luxury of being designed more like a palace than a final line of defence. Inside the walls there was also a barracks built at the turn of the 20th century to look like a European palace. After wandering round the grounds we headed into the interior, which is now an eight storey museum complete with an elevator shaft where we learned about the interesting history and structure of the castle and its founders. That evening we ate at a local restaurant before trying Osaka’s specialty of Octopus battered into balls- a tasty if not remarkable dish washed down with veritable Asahi.
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| Octopus battered into balls with Asahi |
The final day in Osaka actually took us out of the city to Nara, Japan’s ancient capital for seventy years till 784AD(the city’s monks became too involved with politics so it was moved to Kyoto) . An early start, followed by grabbing some take out coffee and cakes at one of the many bakeries at Namba prepared us for the busy day ahead. A full day was spent sightseeing, looking at some of the seven world heritage sights the city boasts, the highlight of which was Todaiji, a Buddhist temple housing a giant bronze buddha which is actually the worlds largest wooden building.The grand shrine of Kasuga Taisha, with its elegant gates and hanging lanterns, was also very photogenic.
All around the various temples, lanterns and graves there are wild deer which happily let tourists pet them whilst looking to extract food (there were some funny scenes of terrified children and old ladies trying to shoo them away with their umbrellas whilst clinging desperately to their murray mints, or equivalents).
On the forty minute train back to Osaka an old man talked to us about England, both as a country and a place to visit(which he intends to do in October 2011) whilst asking what we like about Japan(and also asked us for help with some pronunciation). It was a good chance for us to reflect on Japan. The people are indeed very quiet and shy but so polite, the politest people I have met after us Brits (I really mean that) always nodding and bowing at any small act. The culture here has been so unique, everywhere else we have been there has been a hunger to be like the west, a feeling that the west is superior culturally, economically and people wise, aesthetically(evidenced by south Koreans getting eye widening procedures). Yet here I feel its far more that they have their own way and are happy with it, yes they respect the west, but its not the be all and end all, their cultures no worse(a big example of this is the lack of western brands here compared even to china- I haven’t seen one iphone or blackberry, and western clothing is such a rare site despite the purchasing power of these historically isolationist people. We said goodbye to him at Osaka Station and headed back to the hotel.
The next day I took a bullet train to Kyoto and met Rob, who took (a slow train), outside Kyoto station (it wasn’t much different from China though had Wifi and was a smoother ride).
