AM20: The Japan Journals

Day 51

May 21st

Arising from my well-nested capsule, I trudged through my clothes and scrambled together some attire for the day. While shuffling through my clothes, I couldn't help but notice the scent from last night's stroll. The pungent, fried smell of street food permeates from my shirt. Unlike the greasy filth of typical fried food, this scent has a different flavor in its palette.

There's something about the smell of street food that gathers memories of adventure and immersing yourself into the unknown. By being able to sense different smells and flavors, you can identify some of the hallmarks of the place you find yourself in. There's nothing quite like discovering something unfamiliar, in the form of food. I'm not a "foodie", by any means, but it's undeniable that food like what I had last night could be indicative of how far you are from home.

As for today's, plan, the goal is to just explore as much of Osaka as I can. There's a lot of things to do in the region, so today may be the best opportunity to explore my temporary city. First on the itinerary is to get an aerial view of the city from the Umeda Sky Building.

While it's not the tallest structure in the city, it does offer the best view. It achieves this claim by having an open-air observatory, held up by two towers. Little did I know, Umeda Sky Building is actually constructed by a pair of towers. Above those towers is their open-air garden, which serves as their viewing deck.

The glances from this angle are really something to see. The 360-degree range of this view is unique, as this is the first time I've gotten a fully panoramic view of any landmark. My camera only picks up a fraction of the beauty, as the curvature around this view can only be captured by the naked eye. It's easy to get lost in this view, as you can witness millions of people navigating their way through an urban maze.

One notable feature about the building (that I took a liking to) is its alphabetical shape. Because of their need to connect the buildings, the builders unintentionally formed the Sky Building in the shape of an A. Call me foolish (or immature), but I just couldn't help but like the building attempting to spell my name.

Following my late morning stay at the Umeda Sky Building, I came back to earth and had lunch at the base of the tower. Like a faded amusement park, a ground-level food court was established in the vein of restaurants from yesteryear.

There isn't much to say about this place, as I went for some bland ramen bowl for lunch. I didn't think that fried octopus would be more appetizing, but this bowl left a lot to be desired. So much for "fine dining".

Anyways, I made my way to the other big stop of the day (Osaka Castle). Like many other castles in Japan, this structure was constructed, partially destroyed, and rebuilt several times over the centuries. Despite the number of renovations done to the castle, none of them were a result of the attacks from WW2. Amazingly, the Castle (and its grounds) were hardly touched in the aerial assaults.

Aligned with the outer edges of the moat are dozens of cherry blossom trees. The ripest time to see these trees have passed, as their spunky shade of pink is not as bright as the ones I saw earlier in the trip. When it was first constructed, the Osaka Castle was intended to be the biggest in the country and a symbol of unification. At the time, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (the creator and former general) intended the castle to be his place where would rule a re-unified Japan.

Hideyoshi was known to be an aggressive general, as many castles were destroyed and ordered many opposing civilians to give up their weapons (known as the Sword Hunt). On top of that, he was vehemently against foreign trade and religious practices, often trying to remove them from the area. In a way, his idea of re-uniting the war-torn country was to burn most of it down, then rebuild it to his liking.

Unfortunately, it was Hideyoshi's superior in Oda Nobunaga that would initially tear down the castle after Hideyoshi's death in 1598. Despite its power hungry beginnings, Osaka Castle has since become a popular tourist staple in the region and is a nice place to visit.

On the Castle grounds is an arena (Osaka-jo Hall), which holds a variety of events. I can imagine about every major act has passed through that place, as this arena is ground zero for all things loud in the city. If they fall on hard times, I know a great trombone/sax duo that could tear that place up.

With an afternoon viewing of the Castle (and mostly digested ramen) behind me, I veered back towards my hotel and made the routine evening jaunt through the Minami section of Dotonbori.

The vibrance of this place glows differently than the lights of Tokyo. Perhaps it's the variety of Chochin lamps or dim lighting, but something about Osaka is just more grounded in reality. The blinding neon lights have been replaced by dull, but functional hues of light. Maybe this is their way of showing that their faded colors reflect on their past as a major power in the country.

Adding to the rustic motif of Dotonbori is the abundance of small restaurants, nonchallanty placed along the alleys of this popular district. Because of the sad excuse of a meal that was my lunch this afternoon, I'm still not too eager to eat a full course meal. Fortunately, I stumbled upon a number of street food options, some evoking immediate reactions. One such stand was one that sold fried cheese sticks.

The glutoneous, goopy stick of battered cheese looks like something I'd see at a fair back home, not at a major culinary epicenter. Despite my crooked reaction to the food, I was told by a few locals that it's a popular "post party snack" and that it's much better than it looks. After a moment of deliberating, I decided to make the most of the moment and inhale some of the goop. I mean, I didn't come thousands of miles to eat onigiri every day.

Biting into the cheese stick was a melty, steam rising call to action. It's impossible to eat a snack like this and not keep moving, as the ever moving string of cheese is sure to latch onto something. The texture of the cheese stretches like mozzarella, but has a distinctly cheddar bite. While chewing away at the stick of glorified dairy, I also absorbed the flavors from some of the recommended condiments.

The sticky snack was very good and honestly, probably the best thing I've eaten in over a week. One thing that was lacking on Sado was my choice of cuisine, which really left a bland taste in my mouth. Through 24 hours in Osaka, those tastes have been swept from my palette by Takoyaki and these Cheese sticks.

With the night dwindling down and the slow processing dairy in my system, I crawled back into my nest of a capsule and called it a day. Tomorrow, I'm going to the Nara prefecture.

I've heard the wildlife here is insane, and interactive. I don't know much about the area but I have heard plenty about the deer that call this prefecture home. Judging by the amount of people that go to their wildlife park, I'm assuming that they must be something magical.

Thanks again and I'll see you soon!

-Ayden