Osaka Castle

So, the week between the Nanba Parks mall/Tennoji Temple trip and the following Saturday was pretty calm, a lot of us were playing catch up with things because of all the running around the first week. But come Saturday, we packed up for a trip to Osaka Castle and the nearby History Museum. I learned a lot and it was really fun.

Old-Timey Clothes!

Old-Timey food!

First we went to the History Museum and checked out some of the exhibits. They centered a lot around on everyday life and architecture of the time: the late 1500's and 1600's. It featured a lot of miniature models of the landscape and what it would have looked like 500 years ago. It also featured quite a few exhibits of fashion and accessories, as well as lifestyle settings with wax figures.

1920's Fish Market

Miniature of a Theatre and Play.

My personal favorite was the interactive exhibit that displayed a doll/puppet that was used in plays and entertainment. One puppet was operated by three people. One controlled the head and right arm, one person controlled the legs, and one person controlled the left arm. Here you can see video of my friend "D" being part of the exhibit.

You can see two of the three puppet masters with hoods on their faces as to not draw attention.

After the museum we walked across the street and went to Osaka Castle. It had started raining while we were in the museum, but we knew this so our entire group had umbrellas. What we didn't expect was the amount in which it would rain. I was shocked at the volume of liquid falling from the heavens. My "beathable" athletic shoes proved to be a poor choice, cuz within minutes my shoes were soaked through, and when I wiggled my toes I could feel currents of water swishing within, and with every step you could hear a "squish, squish".

But the rain didn't matter cuz I was looking at an awesome castle It is so pretty on the outside. The grounds are very well kept. Everything was green. On the inside there were various exhibits about the history of the castle and the people who lived within.

I learned that the people who lived within were very influential and did many cool things, like influence how people wrote poetry of the day. There is also the story of a lord who had a small tea room (only three tatami mats large) that was gold plaited. It could be disassembled and reassembled, and he took it everywhere he traveled. He eventually gave it away as a gift. This turned out to be a good thing cuz soon the castle caught fire and burned most of the way down. It was rebuilt only to be burned numerous more times and partially destroyed by bombs in WWII. So, the castle that stands today is entirely recreated and none of the original castle remains. The only original standing structure is a well outside the castle. It's only about 30 feet away, but it managed to escape all the flames and bombs of the past.

By the time we left the museum and got to the top of the castle a thick fog was rolling in, and it made the surrounding city look very surreal. :)

It was a very educational trip, and I liked seeing every bit of it.

Miniature of the Osaka Castle area. Located in Osaka Castle.