beef
i want to start this one with a couple housekeeping notes.
first, i changed up the formatting a little bit on the /gallery/ page.
second, i want to comment on my last couple blog posts. because i am no longer solo traveling, the time i have typically spent on writing and formatting the blogs has been significantly reduced. i usually spend at least 2 hours on each post. so the noticeable quality drop on the blog posts for april 1 and 2 is because i have had less time to really work on it. that is not in any way a slight against my traveling companions, rather it is the opposite. i am quite grateful to have them here. spending nights silently clacking away on this keyboard is fun for me, but i really appreciate the change of pace.
third, to those reading this via email, there are parts of the blog post it wont let me include in the email. so the full blog post page is better.
today we visited osaka castle, one of the most famous landmarks in japan, and then met up with our japanese friend for dinner in kobe. what else would you go to kobe for dinner for, if not the world famous kobe beef?
osaka castle
we started our day closer to home, taking a cab to osaka castle. we discovered cabs start to make more sense when split 3 ways, so trains are not always the answer anymore. when solo, a cab is easily more than 10 times the price of taking the train. the train takes about twice as long most of the time, so in cases like this, splitting the cab 3 ways was absolutely worth it.
the path leading to the castle is beautiful, especially this week, as cherry blossom trees have begun to bloom in this region.
cherry blossoms are the reason i chose this specific time to visit japan, as they bloom for about a week or two before returning to their usual state. its a really beautiful sight, seeing these trees in their brief period of magnificence. there is a metaphor here for human life. the transience of it, watching these trees have their 15 minutes of fame before fading into the background. it is vibrant, beautiful, and short-lived.
before arriving at the castle, there is a small detour you can take to visit the hokoku shrine, built in honor of toyotomi hideyoshi, a feudal lord often called “the second (of three) great unifier of japan,” the others being Oda nobunaga and tokugawa ieyasu (fans of the currently popular tv show shogun might recognize this one). the shrine has a large statue of toyotomi hideyoshi at the entrance.
as is the case with many shrines and temples in japan, parts of it are “no photography allowed” areas. so i wasn’t able to take photos of other parts of this shrine. it was very peaceful. shrines and temples have so far been my favorite parts of japan. there is an atmosphere of tranquility in them that is hard to find in the people-dense streets and cities i have been visiting. it is always a treat to get a few quiet contemplative minutes in a shrine.
i also got my second go-shuin of the trip here. go-shuin are special “stamps” you can get at shinto shrines and buddhist temples. i put quotes around the word stamps because they aren’t really stamps as i define that word. they are done by hand with a calligraphy brush. i really enjoy the process of collecting these. at the end of the trip, i will post pictures of all the go-shuin i collected.
moving on to the castle,
the castle was originally constructed in 1583, and was in-use for nearly 300 years. the castle as it exists today is not the original. in the late 1800s, many of the buildings were destroyed during civil unrest during the meiji restoration. then, during world war 2, it was used as a weapons arsenal, and america bombed it in 1945, destroying the castle and killing nearly 400 people working there. it was restored again and rebuilt in 1997.
beef
we met up for dinner in kobe. our friend from kyoto booked us a reservation at an extremely fancy restaurant. i don’t think i have never been to a restaurant this fancy before.
they brought me a grapefruit juice first, and then we ordered a bottle of red wine. i am not a wine-head, so i honestly have no idea what the wine was. it was delicious, though. i also got a glass of plum wine, a drink i discovered a love for in nagano last week.
this was without question the best meal of my life. it was a four-course meal. it started with a sample plate of a few different kinds of beef:
next was a bowl of oxtail soup:
next was a salad (forgot to get a photo)
after that was the main event, a chunk of kobe beef steak with bread and seared vegetables:
after this they brought us a small lemon sorbet and creme brulee, and both were heavenly. i didn’t expect desert, so i had already put my camera away, and did not get a photo.
i cannot overstate how incredible this meal was. life changing. without a doubt a memory i will have for the rest of my life.
i also got this picture of a cat on the way home.
