Osaka on Blogging Like It's the Early Aughts

Osaka, Part Two: The Osakaning

Tue, 24 Sep 2024 18:05:35 -0700

Today was my last full day in Japan. I can’t believe I’ve been here this long, it feels like ages ago that I arrived. But time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana. All in all I’m glad I came, I’m glad for the experiences I had despite the weather, and I’m excited to visit again some day in the future.

That said, today wasn’t anything special. After having been on the move daily for the last week and a half, I was fine with staying put for a bit. I did go out and do some last minute souvenir shopping, trying to use up the last of my yen… As well as take advantage of the tax-free shopping. I guess there is one benefit to being in this consumer-driving district.

Kotohira to Osaka, Day 8 of 8

Mon, 23 Sep 2024 17:55:16 -0700

Not much to say about the hotel this morning. Woke up, made my way upstairs to the chaos that was a large free-for-all buffet, finished packing up, and made my way to the lobby to check out by ten for my train at 10:44.

The local train to Okayama was nothing special, it did the job. But when I arrived there, that’s when it started to get dicey. I passed from the local section, through the gates, and to the bullet train section looking for my train which was supposed to leave in twelve minutes. I don’t know if it was related to the storms that cancelled my train yesterday, but not only was my train not showing, the train before and after mine were significantly delayed. And if there’s one thing I know about the Japanese train system, especially the bullet trains, is they are very punctual.

Osaka to Bando, Day 1 of 8

Mon, 16 Sep 2024 13:49:49 -0700

Finding Joy in the Journey and Embracing Japanese Culture

“And I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, ‘If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.’”

–Kurt Vonnegut

As I embark on a long journey from Osaka to Bando via four different trains and multiple hours of travel time, I can’t help but be reminded of this poignant quote. Gazing out the window at the rural Japanese countryside flying by, it becomes abundantly clear how Hayao Miyazaki¹ found his inspiration for his films. In this moment, if this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.

First Day in Osaka, or WHY IS IT SO HOT?

Sun, 15 Sep 2024 10:59:23 -0700

Due to the time zones and international date line, I lost a day. I left home Friday morning and arrived Saturday night. After getting out of customs and into the airport, I was amazed at just how hot and humid it was. The place is massive and so it took a bit to find where to buy tickets because there were a lot of different options. Google gave me a plethora of ways to get to the hotel, and after skipping Friday and not sleeping and how bloody hot it was I just went with the advice from Walk Japan to take the Haruko Limited Express to Shin-Osaka. I found that ticket machine and then had no idea how to go about buying it because that wasn’t exactly straight forward… Or maybe it was and I was just addled. Thankfully a really nice attendant, who spoke English perfectly offered to help me. I mention she spoke perfect English only because while I’m good at the “we don’t speak the same language let’s try to communicate anyway” shuffle, see previous comment about the weather and my likely delirious state.