RyokOhio: The Lewises In Japan Blog: Japan Trip 2016, Day 3: Osaka, Kobe and Himeji

Let me start out by listing some observations we've had this trip:
1.) We have seen a lot of PDA here in Osaka. Normally, just holding hands or quick kisses are considered scandalous in public. PDA just isn't a thing. But we've been seeing a lot of it here in Osaka! Are the times a-changin'?
2.) Photo fad: having your picture taken from the back, where you are facing away from the camera and looking at the scenery.
3.) PPAP is even bigger here than I ever imagined. We even had school kids shouting it at us and then they cheered when I started to sing it with them. I am just SO COOL. XP
4.) The people on bicycles are assholes and will run you over just so they can shave off a foot or two by taking the corner rather than using the bike lane. Jerks!
5.) Jeff loses his appetite when in Japan. I swear he has eaten half the amount of food I have!

Okay! So, today our goal was to go see Himeji castle. This is a train ride about an hour and a half away from Osaka. Upon arrival we knew we were in a popular tourist spot because there were tons of Caucasians. Most of them were Italian or German, though. Either way, we were not alone as gaijin.

The castle, also known as the White Heron Castle, is beautiful. It is a National Treasure and also known as the Miracle Castle as it was left untouched after an air raid turned the rest of Himeji to rubble. Fun fact, the castle was actually "camouflaged" in black tarps and coverings! A million points to Jeff who, even though he's a afraid of heights, went up all 6 stories to the top of the castle. They don't make it easy; to keep down on the wear and tear of the castle we had to take our shoes off. Himeji castle is one of the best preserved castles with mostly original woodwork and architecture, making it one of a kind. What makes climbing the many stairs to the upper floors most terrifying is that they are also still in their mostly original state, and are very very steep with very very tall steps, making it more like climbing a ladder. It was definitely worth it though! When we left I bought an addition to my beginning collection of hand towels from castles (a very specific collection)! It started with my Shinsen Gumi hand towel from Nijo Castle, and the newly added Osaka Castle from yesterday!

We had spotted a shrine a block away on our way to the castle and vowed to come back and check it out when we were done. I'm definitely glad we did! This was the best shrine ever as it seemed to be dedicated to owls! I bought a charm (Mimimaru was the shrine owl mascot's name) and got a goshuin (which had an owl on it) and what seemed to be an early blessing of Shichi Go San. Do they do that early? Is that what I saw? Whatever it was, there were two adorable little girls in beautiful little kimonos with their parents inside the shrine's temple where there was a ceremony going on. We also saw a priest blessing the parent's car (?). Ah, I just looked it up. It seems Shinto shrines will perform exorcisms and purifications on new cars. Interesting! I never knew that! We saw so many neat things (and so many owl things) in this wonderful shrine about a block away from the castle, but while we were surrounded by crowds at the castle, here it was just us and the family with the two children.

On our train ride back, one of the stops was Kobe, so we decided to get off there and try to find a restaurant I had bookmarked that had affordable Kobe beef on the menu. After Google messing with us with weird directions we finally found it. Steakland offers a meal of 200 g of Kobe beef, prepared right in front of you like at a hibachi grill. They also grilled up some vegetables, including mushrooms THAT I ACTUALLY ENJOYED! They were those little mushrooms that are mostly thin stem and a tiny little head and they tasted like the butter and salt they grilled them in. The steak. Well, I guess I was expecting better. Perhaps if I hadn't had that wagyu beef my cousin Mark had made for Aunt Margaret's birthday, I could say it was the best steak I'd ever had but, damn that wagyu Mark made was DELICIOUS. That stuff melted in your mouth. This... not as much. Luckily it wasn't too expensive, and now I can say we at least tried some Kobe beef in Kobe. I guess to get the "melt in your mouth" wagyu, you gotta be richer than us.

Our last stop of the day was just a couple blocks away from our hotel: Den Den Town. It's pretty much Osaka's Akihabara, with tons of arcades, card and game stores, and anime shops. And gachapon. That's what we enjoyed the most was looking for interesting gachapon (a toy machine where they are in those plastic baubles). To my enjoyment, it seems adorable, fat, birds are a current trend so I got a little cockatiel, a parakeet, and a lovebird. Jeff had fun finding stuff from the anime New Game. I also got the CUTEST Cardcaptor Sakura post-its!

By now, it was 8:00 p.m. and our legs were wooden planks of pain from walking all day. I enjoyed another hot bath and we ate delicious desserts from 7Eleven.

Tomorrow we have to leave our awesome room here at Kaneyoshi Ryokan, but move on to Hiroshima. Good night!