Osaka

I escaped Typhoon #20 by catching the Shinkansen to Osaka, just a two-hour ride from Tokyo Station. Osaka is the major city of the Kansai area, the part of Honshu around Kobe, Kyoto and Nara. Culturally, it is famous as the home of bunraku (Japanese puppetry). On previous visits to Japan I have bypassed Osaka on my way to/from Kyushu, but this time I stopped to visit the Saitohs, a physician couple who became my friends when they visited Toronto last year.

Dohtomburi

We rode the subway to supper. As the train pulled up to the fohmu (purattoFOHMU = platform), I noticed the warning signal playing on the station speakers was the same as the opening guitar riff in Osaka band Shonen Knife's cover version of The Carpenters' song Top of the World! We got off at Dohtomburi, a street packed with restaurants, some advertising their specialties with huge mechanical models. So many choices! We opted for okonomiyaki (See Local Foods below)

Osaka-jo

The next morning, we visited the newly renovated Osaka-jo (Osaka Castle). The famous gold dolphins on the roof glinted blindingly in the sunlight. Inside, a multi-station laser disc presentation brought to life the story of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of the heroes of Japan's Civil War. A commoner who rose to power, he never learned kanji (like me!). Some of his letters were on display, written all in hiragana. The view from the top of the castle was great -- it was nice and cool up there, too.

Osaka Dome

That afternoon, we attended a baseball game at the Osaka Dome. This multipurpose state-of-the-art facility opened in March 1997 and looks like a nine-storey-tall oyster shell. It seats up to 55,000 people, comparable in capacity to Toronto's Sky Dome, but its roof is non-retractible, a bit of a shame on this day, since it was so bright and sunny.

A commercial for a long distance telephone company currently showing in Canada features a homesick gaijin member of the "Osaka" baseball team playing in the rain -- it's not entirely accurate any more!

The Saitohs had arranged for us to watch the game from a private box! We were joined by some allied health care professionals from Mrs. Dr. Saitoh's hospital. The game, between the home Kintetsu Buffaloes and Kobe's Orix Blue Wave, was very much like a North American pro sports experience, except for the sushi and curry rice we ate.

Learn more about Japanese Pro Baseball

That evening, we went for a shabu shabu dinner. It is a type of Japanese one-pot dish, delicious and well-suited for small group dinners.

The next morning it was time to say sayonara. The whole Saitoh family took me to the train station to see me off. There was a flurry of picture taking and gift exchanging before my train left. We vowed to try to get together again soon, and in the meantime keep in touch by E-mail.

Arigato gozaimashita, Saito-sensei! Osewa ni narimashita.

Local Food Local Cuisine of Osaka Okonomiyaki - a kind of pancake Fuku no hana - a puffed rice candy, with peanut, butter and ginger flavours