Osaka Castle and Museum

Still recovering from the flight, we overslept by an hour or three this morning. Undeterred though, we had a quick breakfast at the コンビニ konbini (Japanese convenience store), and met the nicest lady at a drug store getting hay fever meds, before heading to the Castle...

We began our tour of the castle in the gardens where we were treated to beautiful pink and white Sakura and... the beginning of rain that lasted the rest of the day.

White sakura just inside the entrance to the castle grounds

Our spirits undampened, we had a tour of the Tomon-yagura Turret, which overlooks one of three entrances to the Castle grounds. We needed to remove our footwear and don provided slippers. Indra's were too big and Daniel's too small, walking without flicking them down the hall was challenging but mostly successful.

Tamon-Yagura as seen from the entrance ramp to the castle

We then had a wander through more of the gardens, and were treated to a beautiful look up to the main tower. We saw the gunpowder stores, a huge building with only a very small space inside. The walls of the building were 2.4 meters thick, and Daniel remarked at the time that they were planning for the worst. We later found out that the previous stores had been struck by lightning and set the whole castle ablaze.

The main, five story tower of Osaka Castle

The main tower is five stories on the outside, although you enter from beneath the base so it's actually 8 stories inside. You can climb to the top or, if you're a whimp, take the elevator. We took the elevator. Inside you're treated to the story of the castle and it's creators. The top gives you beautiful views of Osaka.

After the castle we headed to the nearby Osaka Museum. The museum covered everything from the lost palaces of Naniwa in the 7th century, to the effects of the second world war. This was one of the most magnificent museums we've been to, so rather than prattle on, we'll just show you the pictures.

Osaka Museum: 8th floor looking down to 7th

Osaka Museum: Street

Osaka Museum: Workshop

Osaka Museum: Woman working at home

Osaka Museum: Suburban home

Osaka Museum: Children shopping

Osaka Museum: Street

After heading home for a short rest we took our first trip to Dotonburi, an area of Osaka famous for its shopping. The best description we can give Londoners is: Camden, but with the sound, light and color turned to max.

Dotonburi Street

But we didn't stay long, we were looking for something specific. We headed down a little alleyway.

A (comparatively) dark alleyway with small bright shop signs

After a little hunting (google maps lost track of us) we eventually found it. Hozenji Sampei, allegedly the best Okonomiyaki in Osaka.

Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki is somewhere between a pancake and an omlette. Yaki means cooked and you'll see it with many famous Japanese delicacies. Okonomi means "as you like" because the dish can be made with a huge variety of ingredients. Daniel had cheese, bacon and mochi from the menu while Indra chose her own with egg, corn and potato. Both were delicious.