Osaka Castle

The Osaka Castle is a Japanese castle in Osaka, Japan; One of Japan most famous castles, Osaka’s most famous landmark and symbol of the city. The castle was built in 1583 by Hideyasu Toyotomi to become the center of the new, unified Japan under his rule, it suffered several destructions through its history, and the current castle was built in 1931 in the image of Toyotomi’s castle. The main tower underwent major renovations and repairs in 1997, providing the castle more modern facilities like an elevator. The Japanese government has designated the main tower as a tangible cultural property.

The castle grounds cover an area of approximately 60,000 square meters, although the main tower is of recent construction, thirteen structures remain in original condition and have been designated Important Cultural Assets by the Japanese Government. The main tower, situated on an elevated platform of landfill, is suported by walls of cut rock surrounded by a moat.

The main tower is five levels on the outside and eight on the inside, with a museum with several historical objects on display.

Several of the castle ornaments like the tiger’s reliefs, the dolphins, and roof ornaments are glided with gold.

There is an observation deck at the 8th floor providing an unmatchable view. The Osaka castle Hall, the Osaka Business Park and the surrounding area can be fully appreciated from the deck.

The Kinmeisui well was originally called Ogonsui (golden water), and according to the legend, Hideyoshi sank gold bars on the well to eliminate Miasma, however it was established by investigation by Osaka University in1959, that the current well was dug in during the Tokugawa Shogunate when rebuilding the castle.

 

The beauty and historical significance of the castle made a visit indispensable if you visit Osaka

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Universal Studios Japan

Universal Studios Japan is a theme park in Osaka, inspired by the Universal Studios Movies. The park opened in March 2001, and is currently ranked number 9th among the top 25 amusement/theme parks of the world.

There is a small mall marking the way to the entrance, after this you need to manage the crowds to get in. The park, as most of the attractions in Japan, gets a large number of visitors,  but due to its large size, it does not feel crowed. The queues for the popular attractions are certainly not for the impatient, but you can always use the “single rider” option, that will give you a faster access to the rides, if you don’t mind riding by yourself.

The park areas are themed on movies locations, the major ones being: New York, San Francisco, Hollywood, Jurassic Park, and Amity.

All the buildings and the interiors are reproductions of movies locations, be sure to check the small plates on the buildings before going in, to help you locate the movie.

If you bring small children, there is also a kids section with enough variety to spend a complete afternoon on it.

The park is definitively one of the best in Japan and it’s worth making a trip just to visit it.

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Tateyama Kurobe Alpine route

The Tateyama Kurobe alpine route is a mountain route between Tateyama in Toyama and Omachi in Nagano. The route opened in 1971 is 37 km long, ascending 1,795m.

The route uses several transport methods to cover the route without damaging the environment.

I started the route from Ogisawa station on the Omachi side of the route; from there a trolleybus connects this station with kurobedam station, in a 16 minutes ride through a tunnel. This line, together with the one on the Tateyama tunnel trolleybus are the only remaining trolleybus lines in Japan.

Kurobe dam the highest in Japan provides dramatics views of the Tateyama range and the North alpine, the dam 186 meters high concrete wall is an impressive view, especially when is discharging water.

After a 15 minutes’ walk to next station, kurobeko, you can ride the kurobe cable car to kurobedaira in a short 5 minutes tunnel ride.

From Kurobedaira, the tateyama ropeway will take you to daikanbo in a 7 minutes breathtaking ride.

From Daikanbo another trolley ride using a tunnel connects to Murodou, the Tateyama station at 2450 meters. Next to the station, the Tateyama hotel is the highest resort in Japan.

There are several hiking routes from this station, for all levels of expertise.

From Murodou a bus takes you to Biyodaira, during the spring, the snow corridor is open to pedestrians, this year the snow wall reached 17 m, I skipped this part of the trip as it was out of season already.

The Alpine route is one of the best ways to escape the summer heat of Tokyo, and enjoy the fantastic views from the Japanese Alps.

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Osaka Station

Osaka station in Umeda district in Osaka, is the main train station in the north of this city.

The station underwent extensive renovations and in 2011, a new north station building opened creating one of the most beautiful stations of Japan.

A large glass roof spans over the railway tracks, this roof has a close resemblance to Kyoto station’s one. Making this two stations compete for the title of the most beautiful one. The beautifully designed roof, provide protection to the elements and provide natural light to illuminate the station area.

The building at the north and south gates contain department stores, shopping complex, restaurants, and green areas.

Although the Shinkansen (bullet train) does not stop here, it’s definitively worth a visit if in the area.

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