We took the train to Osakajo Koen Station (大阪城公園駅) and walked. The compound was huge.. We didn't put on any sunblock since we were on the bus the night before, thus by the time we reached the main tower, both of us were quite burnt..
The outer and inner moats were filled with water and there were even people fishing in it, even though the sign that forbid fishing and a security guard was barely 2 meters away from them.. :P We didn't see many visitors along the way, but we did notice that there are a lot of joggers and walkers in the vicinity.. 
Osaka Castle
When we reached the Main Tower, there were a lot of tourists.. Many Chinese and Koreans.. We paid the entrance fee (600yen) and went up the Tower. The Japanese government has preserved the exterior of the castle but the interior was just like any modern buildings, with elevators and stairs. It was a museum of sort, telling the violent history of Japan (at that time) and the Castle, its builders (the Toyotomi family) and the structure of the original Castle.
Close up of the front of the Castle
We spent about 3 hours at the Castle. Then we went to Shitennoji Temple (四天王寺). As with many of the temples in Japan, this one has the same features: family cemeteries at the edge of the temple, Main Hall, Lecture Hall, Bell Tower, Pagoda and many statues of Buddhas..
Some photos of the vicinity of Shitennoji Temple..
Since there was still some time before we can check into our apartment, we decided to visit one of the lesser known Shrine, Imamiya Ebisu Shrine, which was venerated as the shrine protecting merchants.. But in the end, it was quite a waste of time in my opinion. The shrine was just a simple building with some structures in its vicinity. Frankly, I was expecting more..
We checked in around 5pm. We had bought dinner from a supermarket nearby and I was running a slight fever. We had prepared to turn in early when we saw on television that there was a matsuri happening in downtown Osaka.. After checking the internet, we realized that it was the annual Tenjinmatsuri (天神祭) of Osaka, one of the 3 big matsuris in Japan. Seeing that my sister was very eager to go and myself having never attended any of these famous Japanese Matsuris (Festivals), I took some panadol and we went out around 7pm..
Since we had missed the land procession at 4pm, we can only try to make it for the boat procession. We went to Temmabashi Bridge (天満橋) near Temmabashi Station (天満橋駅). The place were packed! Really packed!!! From the station all the way to the bridge and spilled out to the roads around the bridge.. Most of them are Japanese, all decked out in their yukatas and looking their best.. Occasionally, I can hear some Chinese, Cantonese, English and Korean being spoken..
Truth be told, the boats weren't impressively decorated. It was really just a procession. They were just boats with names of organizations (universities, companies, etc) hanged at the sides and some people dressed up in their traditional costumes. Nothing to see actually. This matsuri boasted that it has an International Firework display, but even that was a disappointment. The fireworks were quite low and were blocked by the buildings around the bridge! With so many smelly bodies, screaming babies, loud mouth youngsters around and nothing interesting to see, this matsuri was really quite "sad" from my point of view. Maybe we went to the wrong location to enjoy it..
We reached our apartment before 12midnight, all tired and nothing to show, except the fact that we "attended" the Tenjinmatsuri in Osaka..
More pictures from Day One...
p/s: they are also uploaded to my Facebook photo albums.
No comments:
Post a Comment