RyokOhio: The Lewises In Japan Blog: Japan 2016, Day 2: Osaka

Thank you to everyone who watched us go live on Facebook! That was a really fun way to bring a little bit of our vacation into your lives. It is definitely something I will try to do often.

So, I don't know if it is jet lag or just travel exhaustion, but we only lasted until 8 p.m. and woke up around 1 am and again at 5:30 am. I'm doing better today as it's almost 10 p.m. and I'm definitely feeling sleepy! But first, this post:

We had a delicious breakfast from 7 Eleven, consisting of a mentaiko (cod roe) onigiri and Jeff had a tuna mayo onigiri and a really delicious pancake sandwich with pudding in the middle. YUM. It was enough fuel for us to get to Tokyo station for our 3 hour trip on the shinkansen (bullet train) to Osaka. While we were at the station, looking at the maps to find the right platform, a Japanese man came up and asked, "Do you speak English? I speak a little bit, is there anything I can do to help?" We showed him our tickets and he showed us which number to look for that would lead us to the correct platform. His English was fantastic and we were so pleasantly shocked that he went out of his way to show us where to go! It was so kind of him! We bought an ekiben (a bento made specifically for long train rides) to eat on the train. I got a tonkatsu bento while Jeff got a tonkatsu sandwich. Same thing, different carbs. While on the shinkansen, I noticed that every time the shinkansen conductor would exit our train car he would face our train car and bow. I love Japanese business etiquette and politeness!

We walked to our hotel, the Kaneyoshi Ryokan, and the room was absolutely wonderful. It was very traditional with two futons, tatami mats, and a cute little front room with a small table, two chairs, and a big window that looked out over the Dotonbori canal and all it's fun lights and river tours. It's hilarious! Especially when the river tours with a jazz band and tuba went by! Don't worry, the windows shut out most of the noise.

After being able to put down our heavy backpacks, and after freshening up, we went to see Osaka Castle. The grounds around it are beautiful with so many great pathways and trees as it follows the moat around the castle. The stone walls are amazing and huge, especially considering the fact that no mortar is used to keep these walls up; just gravity and specifically cut stone. The castle itself is huge and inside its 8 floors is a huge museum dedicated to the castle's history. We learned all about the Summer War in Osaka, the Tokugawa and Toyotomi war [Jeff's Note: Sengoku Jidai], and the building, fighting, and defending of the castle. Nearby the castle was a small shrine, Houkoku shrine, where I was able to buy a Goshuin book (cho) and my first Goshuin (specific insignia stamps made in the book by the monks of the shrine). [Jeff's Note: They did not, however, have any prayer bead bracelets, which is probably because it was the kind of temple that doesn't have those as a key part of its religious accouterments.] I definitely hope to get more!

Since it was dinner time, Jeff and I decided to hit up the iconic Dotonbori with it's crazy food stalls. I was only a little hungry so I picked takoyaki. Unfortunately, while the store looked cool, it's takoyaki was very underdone and goopy. [Jeff's Note: It gave me a frighten. Heck off Taco Yucky.] Oh well. It was still fun to walk around and look at all the shops and finally see the Glico running man!

So, to end the long day of walking, I decided to take advantage of our hotel's public bath and enjoyed a nice hot bath. Ahhhhhhh. :) This was followed by sitting in our little alcove, watching the people down by the canal, wearing our yukatas, and drinking my favorite cherry drink (called Nichirei Aserora Refresh), and eating a really freaking delicious ice cream sandwich (Dessert Style Gateau Chocola). It tasted like a giant oreo cookie ice cream sandwich with chocolate ice cream! [Jeff's Note: I had a Kirin Straight Tea and some kinda pound/sponge cake.] A tasty end to a fun day!