Friday, April 19
Our day began, as we were to depart Hakone and travel to Osaka, with a visit to the Okada Museum of Art in Hakone. This impressive museum was founded by Kazuo Okada, who made his money in the Pachinko business (kind of a pinball gambling game for which you see frequent signs) and amassed his personal collection. The museum opened in 2013 and was incredible. The ground floor had amazing ceramic pieces from China and Japan, really beautiful pieces displayed in a dim environment. Upstairs the temporary exhibition featured thirty gold folding screens. These were so beautiful also. What an incredible display. There was one called “Waves” that really moved Roy. A more modern screen was called Irises. You could walk in and stare at these all day. The third floor had lovely paintings and other items. Sadly, no photographs were permitted. However, a good photograph appeared in the New York Times in 2017 as part of an article about the museum.
Behind the museum was a garden, but we passed on that to go to the gift shop, where we bought a small reproduction of “Irises.” Then Roy enjoyed a hot footbath in front of the museum.
After this we drove to the town of Odawara to catch the Shinkansen ("Bullet") train. Shinkansen means "new major line." We drove along a stream as we descended from the mountains that had nice walking trails and footbridges. Then we passed the modern train station in the area called Hakone Shimono. Before boarding the train we enjoyed seeing the other "bullets" whiz by that were not stopping at this station.
The bullet train ride was enjoyable with lots of tunnels. We passed an amazing solar array called Panasonic Solar Ark in the town of Anpachi. This is not my photo, but this is what it looked like.
Other than that, the ride was uneventful. We all had seats on the right side to view Mt. Fuji, but it never appeared to us. A sack lunch from Starbucks was a provided to each of us (Rob got a donut). We arrived in Osaka at 2:18 PM.
After we arrived we met our local guide, Yuko-San, who was really friendly and pleasant. We learned the symbols for Osaka (which Roy copied into his notebook), which means Big Slope. It is also known as the "kitchen of the nation," since eating food is very popular here (as we would later learn very well tonight). After we checked in we had a little free time before our next activity at 5:30 PM. With two hours to fill, we decided to walk to Osaka Castle, which is about 30 minutes away. Humberto, Max, and Spencer decided to join us. The weather was warm and very nice. It was also a little humid. The grounds of the castle are large. We first saw the moat, which is so wide it looks like a lake! Then we crossed over and entered the large gate. Inside the castle is very tall, easily the tallest older structure we have seen in Japan. We saw people at the top enjoying their view. Osaka Castle is a reproduction, however; the original was destroyed in WWII. There was no time for further exploring, so we returned to the hotel the same way that we came (straight shot on one street). We had about one half hour to freshen up.
At 5:30 PM the group met in the hotel’s lounge on the 12th floor for a “sundowner.” Then we boarded the bus to go to Osaka’s busy foodie street called Dotonbori. This place is a riot of colors and food shops and people — what fun. We strolled down the street and made three stops to sample the local food. We had fried octopus dumpling, Kobe beef (not as good as what we’d been served in our meals quite frankly), and then some really delicious crab sushi!
After this we went to our dinner spot called Chibo, which specializes in Japanese pancakes called "okonomiyaki." Each table in the restaurant had a hot plate in the center. We had a choice of mixed, seafood or pork. We had mixed. The server came and placed the pancake on the hot surface and "striped" it with Japanese mayonnaise. After a bit of time it was cooked, so we cut pieces and ate it. Then we had fried dough blobs in our stomachs. It tasted okay, but it probably wasn’t good enough to eat again, in our opinion.
Since the food area (mobbed with people — it was Friday night) wasn’t too far from the hotel, we, along with Shirley, walked back to the hotel for a little exercise. Back at the hotel we stopped in the lounge for “eine for the strasse.” Then to bed.
Behind the museum was a garden, but we passed on that to go to the gift shop, where we bought a small reproduction of “Irises.” Then Roy enjoyed a hot footbath in front of the museum.
After this we drove to the town of Odawara to catch the Shinkansen ("Bullet") train. Shinkansen means "new major line." We drove along a stream as we descended from the mountains that had nice walking trails and footbridges. Then we passed the modern train station in the area called Hakone Shimono. Before boarding the train we enjoyed seeing the other "bullets" whiz by that were not stopping at this station.
The bullet train ride was enjoyable with lots of tunnels. We passed an amazing solar array called Panasonic Solar Ark in the town of Anpachi. This is not my photo, but this is what it looked like.
Other than that, the ride was uneventful. We all had seats on the right side to view Mt. Fuji, but it never appeared to us. A sack lunch from Starbucks was a provided to each of us (Rob got a donut). We arrived in Osaka at 2:18 PM.
After we arrived we met our local guide, Yuko-San, who was really friendly and pleasant. We learned the symbols for Osaka (which Roy copied into his notebook), which means Big Slope. It is also known as the "kitchen of the nation," since eating food is very popular here (as we would later learn very well tonight). After we checked in we had a little free time before our next activity at 5:30 PM. With two hours to fill, we decided to walk to Osaka Castle, which is about 30 minutes away. Humberto, Max, and Spencer decided to join us. The weather was warm and very nice. It was also a little humid. The grounds of the castle are large. We first saw the moat, which is so wide it looks like a lake! Then we crossed over and entered the large gate. Inside the castle is very tall, easily the tallest older structure we have seen in Japan. We saw people at the top enjoying their view. Osaka Castle is a reproduction, however; the original was destroyed in WWII. There was no time for further exploring, so we returned to the hotel the same way that we came (straight shot on one street). We had about one half hour to freshen up.
At 5:30 PM the group met in the hotel’s lounge on the 12th floor for a “sundowner.” Then we boarded the bus to go to Osaka’s busy foodie street called Dotonbori. This place is a riot of colors and food shops and people — what fun. We strolled down the street and made three stops to sample the local food. We had fried octopus dumpling, Kobe beef (not as good as what we’d been served in our meals quite frankly), and then some really delicious crab sushi!
After this we went to our dinner spot called Chibo, which specializes in Japanese pancakes called "okonomiyaki." Each table in the restaurant had a hot plate in the center. We had a choice of mixed, seafood or pork. We had mixed. The server came and placed the pancake on the hot surface and "striped" it with Japanese mayonnaise. After a bit of time it was cooked, so we cut pieces and ate it. Then we had fried dough blobs in our stomachs. It tasted okay, but it probably wasn’t good enough to eat again, in our opinion.
Since the food area (mobbed with people — it was Friday night) wasn’t too far from the hotel, we, along with Shirley, walked back to the hotel for a little exercise. Back at the hotel we stopped in the lounge for “eine for the strasse.” Then to bed.
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