SATURDAY, APRIL 1, 2023

EXPLORING OSAKA

I woke up today understandably exhausted, after the hours of travel, the 13-hour time difference, and a very full day the day before. I stayed in bed for a while just relaxing and trying to rejuvenate a little, before making a plan for the day. There were a bunch of places I wanted to see in Osaka, but only one partial day to see them, so I had to prioritize and wanted to – believe it or not 😄 – play it a little by ear. I also took the time to install an eSIM through Airalo, as I had learned the day before that my T-Mobile international pass was not going to cut it for internet, and getting around by myself without Google Maps and Translate was not an option.

I decided to start with a trip to the Namba Yasaka Shinto shrine in the Namba neighborhood of the city, which is not a particularly famous or important shrine in the scheme of things, but part of it is shaped like a giant lion’s head so I thought it was the perfect first place in Japan to take my new camera for a spin. It’s also meant to bring good luck in business (and school), which I figured couldn’t hurt.

My first stop was to get some cash, so I headed to 7-11, which I had learned was the best place in Japan for foreigners to get yen since their ATMs take international cards. And they are all over Japan. I stopped by one near the hotel and got some cash, as well as a cup of fresh strawberries and a small bag of pistachios, since I was feeling hungry after the disastrous lack of dinner the night before.

I walked to the nearby subway station for a first crack at the Osaka Metro system, which looked intimidating at first but I soon learned couldn’t be clearer and more efficient – largely because of Google Maps and how clearly it spelled out which platform to stand on, which entrance and exit to use, and more. Everything relevant was very well marked in both Japanese and English.

I happened to run into Natalie and Krista from Flash Pack at the station, who were friends from a previous trip and I believe were on their way to a shopping area. After some friendly introductions we figured out the system together and got on the same train for a couple of stops before they hopped off.

Definitely the biggest Cup-O-Noodle section I’ve ever seen at a 7-11

Imagine how absolutely *filthy* these plush seats would get in like 15 minutes on the NYC Subway

Naturally, as soon as I was feeling all cool for learning the system so quickly, the train I was on skipped my stop for some reason (and the next one) so I had to get out two stops later and re-route myself. Not a problem thanks to Google Maps, and it was the only time mass transit didn’t run flawlessly the whole time I was in Japan, but I couldn’t help but laugh that of course it was hazing me on my first ride.

I got out at the big Namba Station hub (JR = Japan Rail), and starting walking on this beautiful day towards the shrine. On the way, I got my first understanding of hanami, which is the Japanese tradition of picnicking with friends and family underneath the cherry trees during sakura season. I had read about it before the trip, but I don’t think I realized just how prevalent it is. For the next few days while the blossoms were still in bloom, hanami was happening anywhere and everywhere there was a cherry tree to be found – it’s really such a lovely tradition.

On this walk was also my first WTF whiplash when I walked by and saw this symbol in an otherwise lovely location. I broadly knew that the Nazis had co-opted the swastika from ancient Asian use, but definitely was not expecting to see it so casually, and all over the place.

The manji symbol is facing the correct, original direction here (the Nazis reversed it and angled it), and in Japan it represents Buddhism – on maps to denote temples, and all over the temples themselves – and stands for good luck and auspiciousness. It’s kind of incredible and horrific that the Nazis were able to take such a positive symbol used for thousands of years across Asia and transform it into something so negative in such a short time, but here we are.

Either way, I saw this all over the place in my time in Japan, and even though I knew it had nothing to do with Nazism and was a wholly positive symbol, as a Jewish visitor it was hard to not have a visceral reaction every time.

As an interesting note, I read that before the recent Tokyo Olympics, they reprinted a lot of tourist maps knowing that many people from other countries would have the same reaction I did to what looks like swastikas all over the map. In the revised versions, they instead used a little pagoda symbol to mark the Buddhist temples.

I continued to walk and eventually made it to the shrine I was looking for, entering through my first Shinto torii gate — one of many over the next 13 days. These instantly recognizable gates are meant to mark the transition from the mundane world to the sacred.

There are both Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples all over Japan, and we visited several of both. Our Flash Pack guide Maho (who I would meet later tonight) let us know that while Buddhism is the more formal religion, Shinto is more of a philosophy of life, and many people observe both. In fact, I found in a few places that the shrines and temples overlap or are right next to each other.

Shinto in a nutshell, since it’s represented so much across Japan (and across these pages): The main beliefs are the importance of purity, harmony, respect for nature, family respect, and subordination of the individual before the group. There are an infinite number of deities called kami – though in reading it seems like “deity” isn’t really the right word and it doesn't translate well to English. Kami is really anything that inspires awe – could be natural wonders (or disasters), could be ideas, could be trees or animals. Or ancestors, as humans can become kami once they die.

So it’s more about the phenomena of the world than something fully supernatural, though prayer is a big part, as are amulets (which are found at every shrine for purchase with an offering), and the idea that specific kami are enshrined at each shrine, whether private or public.

It’s a very positive way of life, believing that humans are fundamentally good. The more I read about Shinto, the more I’m on board, frankly.

Entering the main area of the Namba Yasaka shrine, the first thing you definitely can’t miss is the giant lion’s head! I didn’t realize that this part of it was actually built in 1975 (which is probably why it’s in such great condition), but it’s just one element in a number of structures within the bordering torii gates that make up the shrine as a whole.

The lion’s huge mouth is believed to swallow evil spirits and bring good luck in business and school, and inside is a performance stage that’s used throughout the year.

At all of the Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, there’s a place where you can make a small offering and choose an omikuji, which is a piece of paper with a fortune on it. If the fortune is bad or you don’t want to hold onto it, there are always places to tie it up and leave it at the shrine or temple so you’re not taking the bad luck with you. Usually you pick the omikuji by shaking a wooden box until a thin dowel comes out with a number on it, which corresponds to a little numbered drawer that will have your fortune.

I didn’t do this here (didn’t really know what it was yet), but picked a fortune later on the trip. Stay tuned.

Separately, each shrine has little amulets called omamori you can buy for a small offering, each of which offers good fortune in various aspects of life (health, love, money, business, parenting, etc). Sometimes people will return the amulet to the shrine after a year (seen hanging here with the discarded omikuji) to get a new one for renewed luck and a fresh start.

Leaving the shrine, I stopped to have a quick lunch of mozzarella & honey on toast and an iced coffee at Cora Coffee. I was enticed by the familiar English, but it turned out to be particularly great!

After lunch, I walked over to Takashimaya in Namba.

Takashimaya was a department store in NYC that closed in 2010, and I always loved it – when I saw their flagship store while browsing a map of Osaka, I knew I needed to stop by for nostalgia’s sake. Once I got there, I was surprised to find that in Japan, it’s a pretty standard department store! In New York, I always remembered it being all fabulous home decor things and a big unique garden center… maybe it did have clothes and I just never went to that section? Either way, in Osaka I headed right to the home section. Definitely more Macy’s-feeling than the more artsy NYC store I remember, but it was nice to walk around, and they had some beautiful things.

Leaving the store it was about 1:30, so I had a healthy amount of time before I needed to go back to the hotel to get ready to meet the group. I decided to head to one of Osaka’s most popular tourist destinations: Osaka Castle. I didn’t really feel the need to go inside the castle itself, as I had read about how pretty the surrounding park was, especially in cherry blossom season, and just wanted to leisurely walk around and enjoy the parks and gardens.

Arriving at the castle park, it was as gorgeous as promised, amplified by the beautiful sunny day. Getting out of the Metro I just walked towards the cherry trees I saw without a real destination, and enjoyed the stroll. Hanami was (understandably!) happening everywhere!

After strolling for a while along the arboretum path next to the castle moat, I decided to backtrack to get closer to the castle itself.

In doing some Googling to make sure I gave a basic explanation of Osaka Castle here, my head was spinning from all of the takeovers and sieges and builds and rebuilds over the centuries, but the gist is that the feudal lord Toyotomi Hideyoshi built the castle in the mid-1500s and it’s been a military stronghold ever since. It wasn’t really until after WWII (!) that it became the recreation space it is today.

The castle itself has obviously undergone many restorations over the years, including a big one in the 1930s, but the most recent reno was in 1997. It’s now a concrete reproduction of the original for the sake of longevity, and the inside is fully modernized with elevators and a museum.

Crossing the outer moat on the southwest side of the park, I found my way to Nishinomaru Garden, a big open park area (the only place on the grounds with a minimal entrance fee) and a great view of the exterior of the castle.

Lots of food trucks set up. On this warm day, the shaved ice definitely had the longest line!

I took my time wandering around and taking some pictures, then picked up a kaki gori (shaved ice) and found a spot under a cherry tree to relax and enjoy the view. The day had gotten pretty hot and sunny so the shaved ice totally hit the spot.

Looking at the clock, I saw that it was time to head back to the hotel, though I underestimated how long the walk would be to the train station I needed! I ended up backtracking back across the moat and the same arboretum path I had walked on earlier, but luckily it was still a beautiful day and walking back through the path of gorgeous cherry blossoms was not exactly a problem.

Back at the hotel, I got ready to meet the Flash Pack group downstairs for introductions before dinner.

We met our guide Maho who would be with us for the whole trip, along with Mamico who was a new guide and would be shadowing most of our trip for the sake of learning before taking a Flash Pack group of her own. Both of them were charming and so helpful throughout our time in Japan, always offering suggestions for our free time, helping translate, and letting us know about local customs and etiquette so that we could fit in as well as possible. (As much as a group of obvious tourists could fit in haha.)

This group had a little different makeup than my South Africa trip – that one was about half UK and half US/Canadian residents, while the Japan group was mostly American, including four of us from the NYC area!

I didn’t really take pictures here since I was just meeting these people and didn’t want to be that obnoxious person with the camera, but tried to capture just a few for the sense memory.

Having met each other, we headed out to our first night in Osaka, taking the Metro to the Chuo district, hustling along to follow Maho’s raised arm through the stations. On the itinerary was a street food tour, though instead we ended up going to a little hole in the wall okonomiyaki restaurant: Fukusukeya Shinsaibashi.

Okonomiyaki is a savory pancake that’s famous in Osaka, and also Hiroshima – there’s a bit of a friendly competition between the two, though they’re made differently in each city as we would learn in a couple of days. The base is a lot of shredded cabbage, plus a wheat flour mixture, egg, meat (pork in this case), and some other sauces and toppings like bonito flakes*. In Osaka it’s all mixed together, while in Hiroshima it's layered.

(*Yes I know this is seafood haha. My aversion is more a texture thing so bonito flakes are a nonissue.)

I’m not sure why there was a shift in itinerary, but it was more than fine by me as I had been a little nervous about the street food, and was really just looking forward to the okonomiyaki. This also allowed us to have more conversation, great for a first night.

Photos by Maho

Before the okonomiyaki, we were served tofu, edamame, kimchi (didn’t realize this was commonly a thing in Japan and not just Korea), and these round dehydrated and rehydrated potato ball things that had us laughing as they literally bounced like a rubber ball, as we found out accidentally. Plus sake for the table, of course.

Along with the okonomikayi there was also a lo mein type of noodle… which might have been a specific Japanese thing but tasted more or less like Chinese lo mein. No complaints here.

The bonito flakes on this okonomiyaki were definitely moving 👀

After dinner, we walked through Shinsaibashi-Suji - a covered shopping street, which we came to learn are all over the country.

These designed manhole covers are all over the country, and represent an important cultural icon in the area – in this case Osaka Castle.

I taught Mamico the English word “packed” that night

We eventually found ourselves in the Dotonbori district, one of Osaka’s most famous locations and definitely a nightlife hotspot!

By some miracle we managed to stay together, walking across the famous Dōtonboribashi Bridge and through the bustling streets.

This Glico Man sign has become a famous landmark in the area – probably because it’s the first sign to use LED technology. Glico is the company that makes Pocky sticks, among other snacks.

The whole area is overstimulating in the best way, with shops ranging from local products to the biggest Starbucks I think I’ve seen, peppered with every kind of street food and great 3D signage showing exactly what you’re getting. Takoyaki (fried octopus balls) are one of the most well-known street foods in Osaka, so it’s not surprising that there were octopus signs everywhere.

Calling it a successful first night, most of us went back to the hotel while a few people stayed out and enjoyed the Osaka nightlife.