Korea-Japan 7th part Osaka

Osaka

To be honest, I didn't enjoy this city, probably because I was really tired, it was almost a month that I was travelling, and I was looking forward to see Kyoto, which everyone said was amazing.

Doesn't mean that Osaka didn't give me the opportunity to know nice people, visit beautiful places and learn something.

Imperial castle

 School trip

The first thing I visited in Osaka was the castle; it was really crowded, probably because it was a Saturday. There was foreign and Japanese tourists, but also students: I like to photograph Japanese students because of the uniforms, and because they are tidy.

Nel blu dipinto di blu

The Osaka Castle is an important symbol in Japan: it was built in 1583 by the shogun Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who unified the country. But during the civil war of 1615 it burnt down. It was then rebuilt during the reign of the Tokugawa clan (1603 - 1867). The most of the castle's structures burnt down again in 1868 due to another fire. The current version of the castle was completed in 1931. 

Restoration and rebuilding continued after that, resulting in today's vast historical park.

The castle is surrounded by a huge park, where you can enter for free and find a lot of runners, it's a cool place for running. 

To infinity... and beyond

 Skyline

From the top of the castle tower (tenshukaku), that is a museum, is possible to have a 360° view of Osaka. It's really beautiful to see how big is the park around tenshukaku and after it the skyline made by skyscrapers.

From this point of view Osaka is like a small Tokyo.

Umeda

 Meeting point

Umeda is Osaka city centre, where there are the two main stations (really big stations!), restaurants and night life with Karaoke clubs (Japanese are crazy for that), game rooms (vendig machine games) and shops. Umeda railway station is also a meeting point for young people, as you can see from the picture.

Minoo Park

 Countryside

Far form downtown Osaka, 30 min by train, on the north, there is Minoo park. It isn't a conventional park, it is more a forest with a 3 km path. 

It is one of the oldest national park in Japan, and it is a nice way to escape from the city! I really enjoyed the nature and the relax that the place gave it to me.

 Maple leaves

The park is famous for the maple trees, and I was there in the perfect time to see the leaves turning red, magnificent!.

A characteristic thing you can find here is the fried maple leave! yes they fried maple leaves, and they are delicious! A must!

 My model

What I like to do when I'm around with my camera is to find someone to follow and photograph him/her: find my model.

During this 3 km walk in the park I found this girl with a yellow hat, I liked her outfit and the fact she had a camera too. I followed her as much as I could and took some picture, like this one.

 The waterfall

Minoo waterfall is the main attraction of the park, it is at the end of the path. 

It was really crowded, and there I lost my model, but I was able to take some pictures and enjoy the atmosphere.

 Discover the world

I went down to the creek to had a bit of relax, there was a lot of people enjoying the sound of the water and the the cool air. 

A lot of kids where playing there, jumping on the stones or throwing rocks, one of this was really active and curious: his father needed to be really careful, no relax for him!.

 At the temple

Going back from the waterfall, I stopped to see some temples, in one of these I found a family praying. Girl's skirt caught my attention, it reminds me carnival in Italy, it was out of context; but maybe I was just seeing the temple like a church with its dress code.

The holy bridge

In the park there are a lot of temples, the one in the picture is the Minooyama Ryuanji temple. Unfortunately it was under restoration, so I could only take this picture; I love this red bridge and the prospective from it, it's like the way to the holiness, it says: "cross me and you will reach the holy land".