Osaka, Japan

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I was fortunate to travel to Osaka, Japan for a company business trip. On the flight over, I had a short layover in Honolulu, Hawaii. Only for a bit over an hour, but it was a thrill for me to be there none the less. Upon arrival in Japan, I had to figure out how to get to the city center without any help or guidance from anyone. As I have travelled in Europe on several occasions by myself, I was not really nervous, but actually anxious. I was pretty tired, and I just wanted to get to my destination. After figuring out the train system and having make shift conversations with Japanese employees at the airport and train station, I am on my way. I depart the train station, and I have to then catch a cab to take me to my hotel. The cab driver spoke little to no English, so I just showed him the address, and we are off. The cab ride took me down many side streets, and I wondered where the heck I was going. Finally, I made it to the hotel. In reality, it probably was not that long of a cab ride, however I suppose being tired and not knowing where you are at makes it seem a little bit longer. I get settled into my room, and lights out. I knew the next day would be a full day of company meetings, so rest is definitely what I needed.

After spending time in Osaka doing my company business, I was fortunate to have some free time away from my purpose of being there, and I was able to enjoy a bit of the beauty in the surrounding area. As I was there with a Japanese co-worker, he was gracious to spend time with me outside of the company meetings, and to show me around a bit with his family. I was much appreciative of this, for I got the feel of the Japanese culture directly from a source.

I was picked up at my hotel, and as I only had one day to visit around, the decision was made to do a couple of things during the day, and then have a nice traditional Japanese meal in the evening. We start off this day by making our way to the Osaka castle to walk around and to go inside. After we park, we walk towards the front entrance, and I start to see a lot of different activities that are there for the children. There were even men dressed as shoguns walking around. Pretty neat. As we are making our way to the castle, what I really notice is just how beautiful it was. I have been to many castles in Europe, however this was the first time in Asia. The layout, structure, architecture, and just general feel was different. We go in, and immediately go to the top to get the best view. After spending some time up there, we make our way down each level looking around at the different exhibits, and I was explained some of the history. I read what I could that was not in Japanese. Unfortunately for me, and as you might expect, most of the writing was in Japanese. Oh well, I looked at the pictures to get a feel.

Upon departure from the castle, we walk around just looking at the surrounding area and activities that are taking place. We decide to get us a quick snack, and I was asked if I wanted traditional Japanese food. At that moment I was not very hungry, so we decided to get something quick. The wife of the host I was with asked if I wanted something that was a Japanese delicacy. I saw the cook making this, and as I am normally a meat and potatoes kind of guy, I at first had my doubts, but I decided I should at least try it and decide then if I did or did not like it. We got Takoyaki which is a ball-shaped Japanese snack made of a wheat-flour-based batter and cooked in a special pan. It is typically filled with minced or diced octopus, tempura scraps, pickled ginger, and green onion. Takoyaki are brushed with sauce similar to Worcestershire sauce and mayonnaise, and then sprinkled with some kind of green covering for what I believe is presentation purposes. As I really am not a fan of sushi and I definitely do not like mayonnaise, I thought I would compromise. I asked if they could get a portion with no mayonnaise, and then I felt like I could stomach it. I must say, that it actually was not so bad. I learned that I should at least try something before I turn my nose up to it.

After we ate, we depart to go to see what I believe to be the biggest statue I have physically seen outside of the US. We drove a bit, and make or way to a temple in the city of Nara that houses one of the largest Buddha statues that I have ever seen. We find us a place to park, and then we have to walk to the temple. The walk to the temple goes through a deer park, and it is just as the name of the park explains; deer, and hundreds of them. All along the way walking to the temple, there are deer that just wander around, and you can pet and feed them. They actually have little carts where you can purchase wafers to feed the deer. The deer hang around these areas, and once you start feeding them, they will follow you. I have never been so close to as many deer in my life. The males (bucks) have their horns sawed off where they can't hurt anyone by butting them. I imagine that I saw hundreds of deer just walking around. Pretty neat. We make our way to the temple, and once arriving, you have to wash you hands at this large fountain before entering. You also can light an incense and pray, but I did not feel inclined to do this as I am not a Buddhist. When you enter the temple, you see the huge Buddha statue. It goes pretty much floor to ceiling. I have never seen anything that large up as close as I was. It was a pretty neat sight to see. For some that believe that way, they would say some prayers or something, but again, me being a Protestant, I did not feel led to do so. We walk around and view for a short time, and then we make our way out. This was a pretty neat experience to see this.

I am taken to a general store to walk around to see what one looks like, and this reminded me of the dollar stores we have in the states. We then decide to eat supper and go to a traditional Japanese restaurant. You must remove your shoes, and you place them in a locker area. The food that we ate, we cooked ourselves at the table. There was a burner in the middle of the table that had a large, what looked like a pot, that sat in a hole in the table in which had a burner underneath it. We inserted the meats and vegetables in the pot and cooked them. Pretty neat experience.

We departed the restaurant, drove around a bit, and then it was time to say our goodbyes. I was dropped back off at my hotel, and I go back up to my room to pack. I did not mention yet how small my room was in this hotel. The hotel was really nice, and I suppose this is the Japanese culture to maximize your space. The room had a little hall, place to hang a couple of garments, a small television and a bed. The bathroom was also very small. Probably one of the smallest I have ever been in in my many years of travel. All was clean, just smaller than I am accustomed to. This was not really a big deal. I would take cleanliness any day over size.

There were other things I did on this trip that were fun as well. After a long day in corporate meetings, myself and crowd of fifteen to twenty went out to eat at a traditional Japanese restaurant. After the meal, ten to twelve of us split off and went to another restaurant/karaoke bar. We had the best time all singing together to the karaoke music. Sometimes real personalities come out when you get off together like this. I think this was needed to help the group to bond. I have made friends and memories that will last for definitely a very long time.

I really enjoyed my time that I spent in Osaka. I hope to one day travel again to Japan, but if that never happens, I can truly say that this was an experience I will not soon forget.

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