It’s a beautiful sunny day out there with few clouds in sky. 

Yoshimi… guide. It is a 50 minute ride to the Osaka Castle. Red tower of Kobe in the port as we are leaving.

The highest mountain  is Mount Rokko at  931 meter high. 

Sake … very famous, made from (big) rice. Also shoes, jazz festival. Kobe ….150 years ago the port was opened to trade….. was end of shogun era.

Skiing close by. 

From 800-1800’s Kyoto was the capital. 

Kimono and obi sash made here of silk….  each one is different. 

Octopus dumpling is supposed to be wonderful. 

Emperor moved the capital to Tokyo 150 years ago. population for area of Kobe, Kyoto and Osaka is 8.8 million   With Osaka being 2nd largest city in Japan. Each of the 3 cities average 3 million. 

Osaka Castle where we are going today is the highest castle in Japan at 51 metres high … built in 1585. This is the 3rd reconstruction of Osaka castle. It is now concrete. Surrounded by 2 moats, the widest is 75 metres wide. The outside one is totally surrounded water, inner is part water…. Part grass or dry.   It is a trap.  Rock walls are original. 

Toyotomi Hideyoshi…. Was a feudal lord, united all of Japan…. Was from farmer stock so could not be a shogun. He was 62 years old when he died. His only son was 6 years old when he died…. his only heir and not old enough to take over the reigns.

First building we see built in 1931, is museum and gift store. I didn’t have time to go it on the 1st day but did on the second. 

Last year not til end April, did the cherry trees bloom. Year before, the blossoms fell beginning March. No bbq are allowed during cherry blossom time. It interferes with the scent from the trees. April is when school starts and business starts as well as cherry blossoms come out. 

The Osaka Castle was repeatedly destroyed again and again by fire/lightning and war although not so much by WW2. It was reconstructed in 1928. Buddhism was imported to Japan in 5th Century from India. Shinto religion is endemic. A good Buddhist pray for a good day every day with fresh water offered to Buddha first thing in the morning, even before using the bathroom. 

 

Our guide today Feb 12th, is Shomi. 

It would have been good to see Kyoto. Today I will be seeing the same Osaka Castle that I saw yesterday but will be seeing another castle as well…. a Buddhist temple.. Shitennoji. 

Shitennoji  Temple ….. Inside main…. 4 warriors guarding Buddha…. all incl. Buddha are wooden… beautiful carving and paintings but sorry, not photos allowed. 

Edo period (1603-1863),Japan had closed the doors to western/european culture. That world was opened to the world, in Kobe….at end of Shogun warrior period. 

Mount Rokko-930metres high. Golf was introduced there. 

Okini ….in Osaka or arigato anywhere in Japan, means thank you

High of 7C. today with mostly sunny.  

Hokkaido the most northerly island, is known …. For skiing 

Honshu, the main island has 500 cities. 

Shokuku, the smaller of the 4, is famous for udon noodle. It has a milder weather

Kyushu, the southern island, there are many foreign students from Korea. 

Apparently on east side of Honshu’s mountain range, everyday they are having to shovel snow. 

Osaka….2.6 million 

We cross over a Yodo river (it divides Osaka from Kobe) that is fed from Lake Biwa. 

Many times you will see Shinto gate in same area of Buddhist temples. Shinto gods are a manifestation of of Buddhist divinities according to the powers that be. Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the feudal lord that built the Osaka Castle, believed that the Buddhist temples are a natural barriers against intruders  esp. Christians. Where the temple is, it used to be near the ocean shores. Most Japanese are Buddhist although they overlap with Shintoism religion. Today is a holiday……National Foundation Day. There isn’t much traffic.

Japan is only size of California 

Osaka airport is on a man-made island. And Kobe has one too…. on man-made island. Huge number of warehouses. No beach anywhere to be found. 

Kobe sake is made with hard water and is called masculine. The sake from Kyoto made from underground water source, is soft and they refer to it as feminine. 

Since we had some time we walked over to a shopping mall called Mosaic. Below are scenes from the walk and some of the products we saw.

We were told, just as we were just barely underway heading to Nagoya, that that port would be passed by. That apparently because, the weather would be too difficult going into Tokyo if we didn’t get there a day early. GRRRRR🙁! We’ll see….