Osaka in 4-D
Aug. 4th, 2009 02:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
arishaLast night I discovered that, in the '70s, the Jackson 5 performed at the same Osaka concert hall where I saw Morning Musume. No one else will find this remotely interesting but to me it is for some reason the most hilarious thing!!
HEY GUYS REMEMBER THAT TRIP REPORT I WAS WRITING??
Day 11 (Tuesday, January 20, 2009)
This was the day of the bunraku play! Bunraku is Japan's puppet theatre, and ever since learning about it in one of my Japanese culture classes, I'd wanted to see it in person. And Osaka is definitely the place! Every time I was in Shin-Osaka station I ended up walking past this glass-cased bunraku puppet that I always meant to photograph and never did. :P
Unfortunately, since I am apparently too cool to double-check what time these things start, I arrived at the theatre at 11:20am, twenty minutes late. At least it was really easy to find (seriously, exit the subway station and walk like ten steps), or I would've been even later. D: But I was still allowed in, yay! The ticket I'd purchased was for a seat in the very front and centre, but they asked if I wouldn't mind sitting farther back so as not to bother everyone. So until the first intermission I sat on the aisle maybe about halfway from the stage. I did get to move to the front during the first intermission, but to be honest I think I liked the farther seat better. I liked watching the narrators (there were like six of them!!) just as much as I liked watching the puppets, but sitting right in the front it was hard to see them. :(
I also enjoyed watching the puppeteers, haha. I think they try to keep their faces very solemn in an attempt to better blend into the background, but I think it just gives the impression that none of them want to be there. ^^;
Top of a big sign outside the theatre!
At the kabuki performance Dad and I went to in Tokyo, we were able to rent these super useful headphones that gave tons of explanation in English. They didn't have anything like that at the bunraku, and although they gave me a four-page summary of the play, I still had noooooo idea what was going on. All the characters had such similar names and the story was just complicated enough that I couldn't really digest it during the short intermission. I mean yes I know, all bunraku plays are essentially the same (hahaha, oh how I miss my Japanese Lit. classes~), but somehow I was still confused. And I guess maybe bunraku isn't terribly easy to understand even if you're a native speaker, because there were subtitles running above the stage! This is interesting to me because isn't the difference between bunraku!Japanese and modern!Japanese supposed to be akin to the difference between Shakespeare!English and modern!English? I mean when you go to see a Shakespeare play, you don't expect subtitles. But then I guess Shakespeare actors tend to at least use their natural accents, whereas the bunraku narrators definitely don't ... hmmm.
Bottom of a big sign outside the theatre!
I was surprised by both kabuki and bunraku in that they turned out to have a lot more humour in them than I'd previously been led to believe. In this particular bunraku play, there was practically a running joke going on where this one character would run into a wall every time he tried to leave a room. There was also this totally random part where a puppet was rowing a boat, comically fell out of it, and then had to comically swim back. Such a weird little moment in a play that I'm sure inevitably ended in a double suicide. :P There was also a surprisingly violent moment where one puppet threw a money bag at another puppet and it hit him in the forehead, AND THEN HE STARTED BLEEDING!!! Bunraku, you just blew my mind.
The outside of the Kokuritsu Bunraku Gekijou, or the National Bunraku Theatre.
At 1:30pm, and for the second time this trip, I left during intermission. D: Last time it was because we wouldn't have made it to Shibuya otherwise; this time it was because I was really nervous I wouldn't make it to Osaka Castle otherwise. And I had no idea what was going on in the play anyway. :/ I mean I'm definitely glad I made it to a bunraku play, but I think I now realize why most guidebooks will tell you to catch "part of" a traditional theatre form, not the whole thing. (lol notice how I didn't even bother with Noh? ;) )
Flags on the outside of the theatre. The wind is blowing them so that they're backwards. I feel bad that I didn't get a shot of them the proper way round! GUYS THIS IS NOT WHAT JAPANESE LOOKS LIKE!!
After taking the above pictures, I went to a convenience store down the street and grabbed some sushi, and then me and my sushi returned to ...
... the sitting area outside the Museum of History! On my trip schedule I'd noted another subway station that was probably rather closer to the castle, but I figured I'd be able to walk to the castle from here and so, after eating my lunch, that's what I did.
On the way I think I passed a police station or something, and just outside it was this sign numerically describing the previous day's car accidents. The first number is the number of accidents; the second is the number of people who died; the third is the number of people who were injured. Gotta be honest, I saw some pretty horrendous driving in Osaka, to the point that these numbers were lower than I would've guessed. But I still thought it was pretty shocking to see it laid out so plainly like that! I wonder if it's at all effective?
Osaka Castle is in the middle of a park, and even once you're inside the castle walls there's still a fair bit of walking to do to get to the part that's now a museum. Having never been to an actual castle before, and still impressed with the fact that there is a moat in the middle of the city, I took a lot of pictures. x)
Moat!
Looking up the ramp that leads inside the castle walls. I was actually really surprised with what I found once I got past here. I think I had been expecting everything within the walls to be a historical site, kept the same as it had been when the castle was new. So not!! There are people selling things, there are vending machines, there are even modern buildings within the walls. And people use the area just like they do the rest of the park, even riding their bikes through and stuff. I confess I was a little disappointed. :(
Castle!
On a future day, in one of the shops along Universal CityWalk, I found a little figure of Disney's Stitch eating Osaka Castle, and at the time I was like "This is hilarious but I'm not really a fan of Stitch so I shouldn't buy it," and now omg such REGRET!!
I stood outside the castle entrance for a couple minutes taking random pictures. This one might be of a well? Or something ... ? You can see a more modern building in the background (not the skyscrapers) - it was built within the castle walls, what the heck.
Standing outside the door and looking up.
The entrance. There's a cannon on the right that I mostly cut out of the picture. Just as I was about to go in, a couple asked me to take a picture of them standing in front of it. xD I dunno why but that made me really happy, haha! At first I thought maybe they were foreign tourists too, because when they asked for the photo they used really simple Japanese, but afterwards I realized they were just dumbing it down for my benefit. ^^;
Another random picture. Note the ramp; I found it really interesting that Osaka Castle is wheelchair accessible. I mean, it should be, considering they've basically redone the entire inside of it to turn it into the museum, but our local "castle" is unashamedly unaccessible so I thought it was interesting.
Another random picture. And then I went in!
It seems to be very much a theme in Osaka's tourist traps that you take the elevator to the top of the building and then work your way down, but they definitely make use of this! The highlight of the eighth floor of Osaka Castle is that you can go out onto the balcony(? probably not its proper name) and walk all the way around and see all the decorations and look out over the city~ ... I definitely spent at least ten minutes up there, I loved it. To start, here is a picture of a golden fish!
I quite enjoy pollution that you can see.
Awkward and low-quality thirty-second video from the top of Osaka Castle. :3 Oh, Osaka~ as much as I love you, you will never be the most beautiful city in the world. xD;
Yah, skyscrapers~.
Yah, moat~.
I continue to enjoy shots that show both new and old at once. xD Also, can you find me in this picture?? I did not even think to look until one of my managers tagged me on Facebook!
Beams in the roof!
A golden fish farther down!
The GIANT FERRIS WHEEL makes a surprise appearance!
omg don't fall!!
The Museum of History. Just think, the previous day I had been taking pictures in the exact opposite direction! xD
Another golden fish, and some of the randomness that sits within the castle walls.
Fish with Museum of History in the background.
More Osaka~ and then I finally went inside!
I didn't take any photos inside because I wasn't sure whether or not it was allowed, but it was a really cool museum with a variety of exhibits and different ways of presenting information. I kind of wish I'd read up on the castle before my trip, because even with the fantastic and frequent English, I had difficulty keeping all the names and events straight. I also wish I hadn't had to race through the last floor due to the museum closing at five, haha. But definitely I would recommend Osaka Castle to anyone going to Osaka, and I'm really glad I didn't let myself miss it. There were a lot more tourists at the castle than at the Museum of History, so I guess this is a common opinion (although I would still recommend both!). ^^;
Osaka Castle at sunset. <3
And zoomed out. My aforementioned manager went through my Facebook album backwards, apparently, and she told me that she was really surprised when she got to my first, taken-from-the-Museum-of-History pictures of the castle and saw how big the whole thing is. I guess it's true, this part is not very impressive by itself. But it's pretty!
And then I got some more food and returned to my hotel AND DID NOT GET LOST, holy guacamole a round of applause if you please.
More fake!Obama on my hotel room TV! This time the local news was doing a piece on a guy who makes statues of American presidents and displays them on his front lawn. He was talking about how much he'd like to meet Obama. I wonder what he finds so interesting about American presidents?
I forgot to mention in my last trip report entry that during Beat Takeshi's appearance as Obama, he kept saying "Onbanma," which is a combination of "Obama" and "Konbanwa" ("good evening"). How ... witty??
Next up is Universal Studios, I think! My third theme park of the trip. :DD
(Photos hosted by Photobucket.)
HEY GUYS REMEMBER THAT TRIP REPORT I WAS WRITING??
Day 11 (Tuesday, January 20, 2009)
This was the day of the bunraku play! Bunraku is Japan's puppet theatre, and ever since learning about it in one of my Japanese culture classes, I'd wanted to see it in person. And Osaka is definitely the place! Every time I was in Shin-Osaka station I ended up walking past this glass-cased bunraku puppet that I always meant to photograph and never did. :P
Unfortunately, since I am apparently too cool to double-check what time these things start, I arrived at the theatre at 11:20am, twenty minutes late. At least it was really easy to find (seriously, exit the subway station and walk like ten steps), or I would've been even later. D: But I was still allowed in, yay! The ticket I'd purchased was for a seat in the very front and centre, but they asked if I wouldn't mind sitting farther back so as not to bother everyone. So until the first intermission I sat on the aisle maybe about halfway from the stage. I did get to move to the front during the first intermission, but to be honest I think I liked the farther seat better. I liked watching the narrators (there were like six of them!!) just as much as I liked watching the puppets, but sitting right in the front it was hard to see them. :(
I also enjoyed watching the puppeteers, haha. I think they try to keep their faces very solemn in an attempt to better blend into the background, but I think it just gives the impression that none of them want to be there. ^^;
Top of a big sign outside the theatre!
At the kabuki performance Dad and I went to in Tokyo, we were able to rent these super useful headphones that gave tons of explanation in English. They didn't have anything like that at the bunraku, and although they gave me a four-page summary of the play, I still had noooooo idea what was going on. All the characters had such similar names and the story was just complicated enough that I couldn't really digest it during the short intermission. I mean yes I know, all bunraku plays are essentially the same (hahaha, oh how I miss my Japanese Lit. classes~), but somehow I was still confused. And I guess maybe bunraku isn't terribly easy to understand even if you're a native speaker, because there were subtitles running above the stage! This is interesting to me because isn't the difference between bunraku!Japanese and modern!Japanese supposed to be akin to the difference between Shakespeare!English and modern!English? I mean when you go to see a Shakespeare play, you don't expect subtitles. But then I guess Shakespeare actors tend to at least use their natural accents, whereas the bunraku narrators definitely don't ... hmmm.
Bottom of a big sign outside the theatre!
I was surprised by both kabuki and bunraku in that they turned out to have a lot more humour in them than I'd previously been led to believe. In this particular bunraku play, there was practically a running joke going on where this one character would run into a wall every time he tried to leave a room. There was also this totally random part where a puppet was rowing a boat, comically fell out of it, and then had to comically swim back. Such a weird little moment in a play that I'm sure inevitably ended in a double suicide. :P There was also a surprisingly violent moment where one puppet threw a money bag at another puppet and it hit him in the forehead, AND THEN HE STARTED BLEEDING!!! Bunraku, you just blew my mind.
The outside of the Kokuritsu Bunraku Gekijou, or the National Bunraku Theatre.
At 1:30pm, and for the second time this trip, I left during intermission. D: Last time it was because we wouldn't have made it to Shibuya otherwise; this time it was because I was really nervous I wouldn't make it to Osaka Castle otherwise. And I had no idea what was going on in the play anyway. :/ I mean I'm definitely glad I made it to a bunraku play, but I think I now realize why most guidebooks will tell you to catch "part of" a traditional theatre form, not the whole thing. (lol notice how I didn't even bother with Noh? ;) )
Flags on the outside of the theatre. The wind is blowing them so that they're backwards. I feel bad that I didn't get a shot of them the proper way round! GUYS THIS IS NOT WHAT JAPANESE LOOKS LIKE!!
After taking the above pictures, I went to a convenience store down the street and grabbed some sushi, and then me and my sushi returned to ...
... the sitting area outside the Museum of History! On my trip schedule I'd noted another subway station that was probably rather closer to the castle, but I figured I'd be able to walk to the castle from here and so, after eating my lunch, that's what I did.
On the way I think I passed a police station or something, and just outside it was this sign numerically describing the previous day's car accidents. The first number is the number of accidents; the second is the number of people who died; the third is the number of people who were injured. Gotta be honest, I saw some pretty horrendous driving in Osaka, to the point that these numbers were lower than I would've guessed. But I still thought it was pretty shocking to see it laid out so plainly like that! I wonder if it's at all effective?
Osaka Castle is in the middle of a park, and even once you're inside the castle walls there's still a fair bit of walking to do to get to the part that's now a museum. Having never been to an actual castle before, and still impressed with the fact that there is a moat in the middle of the city, I took a lot of pictures. x)
Moat!
Looking up the ramp that leads inside the castle walls. I was actually really surprised with what I found once I got past here. I think I had been expecting everything within the walls to be a historical site, kept the same as it had been when the castle was new. So not!! There are people selling things, there are vending machines, there are even modern buildings within the walls. And people use the area just like they do the rest of the park, even riding their bikes through and stuff. I confess I was a little disappointed. :(
Castle!
On a future day, in one of the shops along Universal CityWalk, I found a little figure of Disney's Stitch eating Osaka Castle, and at the time I was like "This is hilarious but I'm not really a fan of Stitch so I shouldn't buy it," and now omg such REGRET!!
I stood outside the castle entrance for a couple minutes taking random pictures. This one might be of a well? Or something ... ? You can see a more modern building in the background (not the skyscrapers) - it was built within the castle walls, what the heck.
Standing outside the door and looking up.
The entrance. There's a cannon on the right that I mostly cut out of the picture. Just as I was about to go in, a couple asked me to take a picture of them standing in front of it. xD I dunno why but that made me really happy, haha! At first I thought maybe they were foreign tourists too, because when they asked for the photo they used really simple Japanese, but afterwards I realized they were just dumbing it down for my benefit. ^^;
Another random picture. Note the ramp; I found it really interesting that Osaka Castle is wheelchair accessible. I mean, it should be, considering they've basically redone the entire inside of it to turn it into the museum, but our local "castle" is unashamedly unaccessible so I thought it was interesting.
Another random picture. And then I went in!
It seems to be very much a theme in Osaka's tourist traps that you take the elevator to the top of the building and then work your way down, but they definitely make use of this! The highlight of the eighth floor of Osaka Castle is that you can go out onto the balcony(? probably not its proper name) and walk all the way around and see all the decorations and look out over the city~ ... I definitely spent at least ten minutes up there, I loved it. To start, here is a picture of a golden fish!
I quite enjoy pollution that you can see.
Awkward and low-quality thirty-second video from the top of Osaka Castle. :3 Oh, Osaka~ as much as I love you, you will never be the most beautiful city in the world. xD;
Yah, skyscrapers~.
Yah, moat~.
I continue to enjoy shots that show both new and old at once. xD Also, can you find me in this picture?? I did not even think to look until one of my managers tagged me on Facebook!
Beams in the roof!
A golden fish farther down!
The GIANT FERRIS WHEEL makes a surprise appearance!
omg don't fall!!
The Museum of History. Just think, the previous day I had been taking pictures in the exact opposite direction! xD
Another golden fish, and some of the randomness that sits within the castle walls.
Fish with Museum of History in the background.
More Osaka~ and then I finally went inside!
I didn't take any photos inside because I wasn't sure whether or not it was allowed, but it was a really cool museum with a variety of exhibits and different ways of presenting information. I kind of wish I'd read up on the castle before my trip, because even with the fantastic and frequent English, I had difficulty keeping all the names and events straight. I also wish I hadn't had to race through the last floor due to the museum closing at five, haha. But definitely I would recommend Osaka Castle to anyone going to Osaka, and I'm really glad I didn't let myself miss it. There were a lot more tourists at the castle than at the Museum of History, so I guess this is a common opinion (although I would still recommend both!). ^^;
Osaka Castle at sunset. <3
And zoomed out. My aforementioned manager went through my Facebook album backwards, apparently, and she told me that she was really surprised when she got to my first, taken-from-the-Museum-of-History pictures of the castle and saw how big the whole thing is. I guess it's true, this part is not very impressive by itself. But it's pretty!
And then I got some more food and returned to my hotel AND DID NOT GET LOST, holy guacamole a round of applause if you please.
More fake!Obama on my hotel room TV! This time the local news was doing a piece on a guy who makes statues of American presidents and displays them on his front lawn. He was talking about how much he'd like to meet Obama. I wonder what he finds so interesting about American presidents?
I forgot to mention in my last trip report entry that during Beat Takeshi's appearance as Obama, he kept saying "Onbanma," which is a combination of "Obama" and "Konbanwa" ("good evening"). How ... witty??
Next up is Universal Studios, I think! My third theme park of the trip. :DD
(Photos hosted by Photobucket.)