Kobe , Japan

Today, after docking in Kobe, we drove to Osaka to visit the famous Osaka Castle. For context, Kobe is a port city with the population of 1.5 million people. From Kobe you can travel approximately northeast another 73 km to the city of Kyoto with the population of 2.6 million. From Kyoto continuing approximately northeast you can travel another 34 km to reach Osaka with a population of 2.7 million people. As such our tours to Kyoto and Osaka, all started in Kobe.
On the walk towards the castle, there were colourful food and souvenir vendors and, as usual, hoards of school groups with lots of hellos, goodbyes and pleased to meet you greetings from the young children.
After a series of feudal wars dating back to 1583, and several rebuilds of the castle, its main castle tower was then struck by lightening in 1665, burned down, and was not rebuilt until 1931. During the war it miraculously survived the city-wide air raids. Major repairs gave the castle new glamour in 1997. The castle tower is now quite modern on the inside and even has an elevator for easier accessibility to the 5th floor. From there you can walk up 2 more floors to an open air observation deck with amazing views.
On the 4th floor, there is an extensive museum about the castle's history and about Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who was a Japanese samurai and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.
The castle tower is surrounded by secondary citadels, gates, turrets, impressive stone walls and moats. The Nishinomaru Garden, which we walked through, has 600 cherry trees, a tea house, the former Osaka Guest House and iconic views of the castle tower.
The Osaka Castle Park covers about two square kilometers with lots of green space, sport facilities, a multi-purpose arena and a shrine dedicated to Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The park is one of Osaka's most popular spots during the cherry blossom season, which usually takes place in late March and/or early April.
There are two moats surrounding the castle, the outer one is dry and the inner one does have some water. The stonework they used was remarkable in that the enormous blocks of stone, one of which weighed 150 tons, had to be pulled using ropes and rolling logs from 150 miles away, When we arrived back at the ship, the main atrium was all decked out in Halloween decorations.
The entertainment after dinner was a very authentic and loud Folkloric Performance of a Taiko Drum Show. Tonight, we are docked and staying overnight in Kobe.Read more