Samurai & Noodles

Today we went about the business of getting acquainted with Osaka and Ikeda-city. Our first official stop of the day was Osaka-jo, a towering castle built on huge granite rocks, some of which weigh 120 tons. This was the showpiece of Hideyoshi Toyotomi, a warrior and statesman who unified Japan in the 16th century. The modern buildings of Osaka stood in such contract to the castle! We were lucky enough to see a re-enactment, on the castle grounds, of the civil war between Kyoto and Tokyo, complete with costumed samurai and incredible drumming. I wished Lawrence School 6th graders could have been there… Our bento box lunch was punctuated with loud cannon fire, after which we were joined in the lunchroom by samurai themselves. Next we visited a museum honoring the invention of instant ramen (“CupNoodles”), a notable landmark in Japanese cooking, transforming the lives of women here and around the world! A great pleasure today was walking through residential nieghborhoods; many futons were being aired over apartment balconies on this crisp fall day. Our day continued to be full of contrasts, as we next visited the peaceful Kureha Shrine (cleansing our hands and mouths with spring water before ringing the bell to wake the gods), and then a local art museum. Back to hotel to do laundry and collect my wits and get supper from a local convenience store. Sometimes you just need “down” time and this was it.