Some of my favorite food

Osaka does have some great eats and I am thrilled to be able to find them, order them and enjoy them!

Tonkatsu (pork cutlet)

Tako-yaki (octopus balls)

 see the bonito flakes dance!?!

Bento Box

Green tea drink box

Okonomoyaki --- Japanese "pizza" with cabbage/egg base rather than dough

Sukiyaki

Osaka Aquarium

So Osaka isn't nearly as traveler-friendly in my opinion. The people seem friendlier than in Tokyo, but the public transport is trickier and little English can be found. I'm proud to say I transferred twice today from Rail to Subway and found my way there and back to/from the aquarium! I had a nice time, but honestly being there really made me miss my girls and long for them to be with me enjoying the exhibits. 

 This is one of two whale sharks in residence

 Not sure what it says, but I love this sign!

 Some neat squid

 Kawaii (cute) school children (which is why I started to miss my kids, I think!)

 Kameko, for Cora-chan!

 Giant spider crabs

Lunch boxes lined up outside the building for the school children

Hard to resist posing inside this mammoth mouth

 This cool ferris wheel is next to the aquarium. Each gondola holds 8 people and it's super high... no, I  decided to not brave it alone!

Osaka Castle

Osaka-jo was built by General Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1583 as a display of power, using the labor of 100,000 workers. The present structure was refurbished in 1997. We came upon it during our 5 mile morning stroll today, with thanks to the "jogging map" provided by our hotel :)

Surrounded by a moat, the castle is really in the center of Osaka.

 

 Detail of Ume (plum blossom) in garden

 Ume garden

 View of ume garden from castle

 Fortunes in English! (I've never seen them translated and, instead, would only buy them when I had a friend who spoke Japanese with me to translate)

Mine said "small blessing"

Sumo

We made it to Osaka in time for the spring Sumo Tournament! The last time we visited Japan together we had to be content watching it on TV, so we are so excited to see the action LIVE!

Outside the Sumo Hall, the banners are advertising the "houses" of each wrestler

Entrance ceremony. Their aprons also display "house" details and cost between $40,000-$50,000 USD.

The tradition of throwing salt to ward off evil spirits

The winner gets the other wrestler to touch the ground with a part of his body or step outside the ring. Most matches end pretty quickly after the ceremony of grunting and throwing salt and stomping feet. 

Current national champion (from Mongolia, actually)

Leaving on a bullet train...

We leave today for Osaka from Tokyo. Here are a few details of travel in Japan. If driving by car, it'd take about 10 hours between Tokyo and Osaka. Instead, ours is about a 2 hour trip.

 Tokyo Station, shinkansen (bullet train) entrance

Below, a stop by the food court for lunch to take aboard the train

 Beautiful sweets

 Mikan and Strawberries

 Kit-kats in a variety of flavors

 Becky waiting patiently in her seat

 Our ticket

My lunch

Asakusa

I visited this shrine because I remember it being so pretty and full of fun souvenir shops. Shame on me for not realizing that Sundays are CRAZY busy and add the rain to it, the experience was a bit miserable. Oh well. At least I got to re-visit a neat place and have a treat...

 The "smoking pot" from which incense burns, visitors fan the smoke over parts of their bodies that are ailing. I have a wicked cough right now, so I tried it out, as well...

 Hand-washing station

My treat (upside down) -- a waffle fish filled with a sweet cream. It was warm and yummy!

Bright lights, Big City!

We ventured out at night to Shinjuku, the electronics capital of Tokyo. Think of Times Square on speed.... many many blocks that looked just like this! We ate a delicious dinner of sukiyaki, Japanese beef and vegetables cooked in broth with sake at table, then dipped in raw egg before eating. YUMMY!