Day 64 - Osaka

Samurai, Spaghetti, and Seven Miles!

We were rather sluggish getting started this morning, but Osaka turned out to be a wonderfully entertaining day. We visited two museums, explored the enormous castle grounds, found some unexpected curiosities, and somehow walked another seven miles!

Our first destination was Osaka Castle, originally built in the late 1500s by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of the great figures in Japan’s unification. The castle was destroyed during the struggle for power with the Tokugawa family, and the present tower is a 1931 reconstruction.

The massive stone walls and moats were particularly impressive. Some of those stones are enormous! We climbed through the eight floors of the castle museum, which was quite busy, and enjoyed the views over the sprawling city.

Outside, the atmosphere was considerably less serious. Street performers were entertaining visitors with acrobatics, and Phil even had the opportunity to transform himself into a rather imposing samurai, complete with an elaborate helmet and sword. Not sure he frightened anyone!

We also visited the Osaka Museum of History, which provided a fascinating look at the city’s past and wonderful views of the castle and its fortifications. Among the exhibits was a particularly memorable little wooden votive plaque depicting a woman breastfeeding. Apparently, women once offered these plaques at temples in hopes of producing plenty of milk for their babies. Japan continues to surprise us!

We wandered through the castle park, enjoying the autumn colors, golden sightseeing boats on the moat, and a shrine decorated with colorful lanterns, pinwheels, and hundreds of brightly colored paper fortunes.

There were plenty of other opportunities for amusement. Cindy posed beside an enormous model plate of spaghetti, and later found herself standing beside a cardboard Japanese lady in a kimono under an artificial cherry blossom tree. We also managed to find a little springtime scenery in November!

By late afternoon, the skies had darkened. The rain began just as we started heading back, and we walked the final ten minutes in a light drizzle.

We never made it to several of the places on our original itinerary, but that hardly mattered. Today was less about checking off sights and more about enjoying whatever we happened to discover.

Seven miles, two museums, one samurai, giant spaghetti, and plenty of laughs.

Tomorrow we leave Osaka and head toward Mount Fuji!

****************A Perfect Balancing Act — in BLUE! 🇺🇸💙 (see last video)

Outside Osaka Castle today, we stopped to watch some remarkable street acrobats. Dressed in BLUE, they performed an incredible balancing act—flawlessly!

And what was playing in the background? Wind Beneath My Wings!

Coming the day after the American elections, the symbolism was simply too good to miss. BLUE, perfect balance, and a song about heroes and the people who lift us up.

We couldn’t help smiling at the coincidence. The performers probably had no idea what an additional meaning their performance held for two Americans watching in Osaka!

Sometimes the most memorable moments of travel are completely unexpected. 😂Read more